Operation: Kidnap Lucy
by FeebleHearts
Summary: For once, Lucy was sure she had done everything right on her "How to not get Kidnapped" mental checklist. Yet. Here she was. Lucy is surprised to find out that Zeref and Mavis are still alive, and even more surprised to find out that it might be her fault. Can she help reconcile two brothers, or will her actions in rewriting the book of END make it impossible?
1. Chapter 1

When Lucy first opened her eyes, she couldn't help but feel miffed. She had been minding her own damn business in a busy, and very public cafe during lunchtime when she was attacked. For once, she thought she was doing everything right on her "how to not get kidnapped" mental checklist, yet here she was. Kidnapped.

She wasn't entirely sure why, by whom, or how she had been kidnapped, but they had to have been fairly talented to have grabbed her mid-day without causing a scene while she was out and about in Magnolia. All she knew is that one moment she was sipping coffee and reading a book, and then she blinked and now she was here. Where "here" was, she wasn't entirely sure. The room she was currently in was like a prison cell in a medieval dungeon: all stone walls and metal bars with no windows, just the sound of dripping water from the ceiling. Cold. Empty.

She wasn't tied up, but she wasn't comfortable either. Besides what she had on her when she was attacked, there was nothing else in the room with her. Lucy's cup of coffee steamed in her left hand, and the book she had been reading was still being held open in her right. Her celestial keys were on her belt along with her whip. Instead of a chair, however, Lucy found that she was sitting on the floor, the rough texture of the rock biting into her thighs and partially exposed butt cheeks.

Lucy was still working through her shock at the change in scenery, which was probably the only reason she was not screaming her head off just yet. Instead she drank more coffee. Maybe she just fell asleep sitting at the cafe. She could always hope, right?

Not even a minute later, Lucy's brain decided that she was not, in fact, sleeping while still sitting at the cafe. However, it seemed the chemical mixture to help her feel a healthy dose of fear was still being blocked by her brain's need to inspect and catalogue the day's events. The buzz of her brain was maybe the reason why she only noticed after the cell door was opened and then shut again with a loud BANG that someone else had joined her. Lucy's eyes traveled slowly up from the pair of black boots that appeared in front of her to a pair of loose fitting black pants. The pants were partially covered with a white toga looking sash that draped over the shoulder and chest of the wearer's black shirt. Lucy recognized the clothes before she reached the face of the man standing in front of her. Zeref.

But. Why? Isn't he dead?

Lucy's eyes finally landed on Zeref's face. At least, for the moment, his eyes were not the angry red color they were when he was preparing to kill. Lucy blinked. The thought of, maybe I can go back if I blink again, quickly dying in her mind when the image of Zeref was not replaced by the glass windows of her favorite cafe.

And now her Saturday was most likely ruined.

Lucy carefully set down her coffee and then moved her bookmark from its holding place near the back of the book to her current page to mark her place before closing the book. Given the fact that she had not been mistreated in any way, Lucy found that she was able to keep relatively calm. It also helped that her brain refused to believe that Zeref, who was supposed to be very dead, was standing in front of her. He had died with First Master Mavis at the end of the war. Therefore he was not, could not, be standing in front of her right now.

"You're not screaming," Zeref stated dully.

Lucy frowned a bit when she answered, "No, I'm not." There was an awkward pause as Zeref looked down at her with dead eyes. "Should I be?" Lucy questioned. "I mean, I am practically an expert at getting kidnapped, so …"

Zeref's face remained blank, but his head tilted cutely to the side at her response. "An expert…" he mumbled.

Another awkward silence filled the room. It stretched for a full five minutes during which Zeref continued to regard Lucy with sullen, dead eyes and Lucy attempted to look at anything besides the man in front of her. She even went as far as picking her coffee back up to take a deep drink to ease the weirdness of the situation.

"How long until he comes for you?" Zeref said, sounding rather board and uninterested.

"What? He who?"

"Natsu. How long until he gets here?"

"Uuummm…" Lucy was trying to think. Was she here just to lure in Natsu? How atypical. Usually she was kidnapped for the use of her family name or keys. Hardly ever had she been captured specifically to grab Natsu's attention. Although, she had to admit that Natsu's response rate to her kidnapping situations was 100%. She guessed that was reason enough for the casual observer to believe she has some sort of special bond with the Slayer that made it easy for him to pinpoint her location and rescue her. To bad Natsu was out on a solo mission with Happy and wouldn't even notice she was gone for another two months, three months tops.

"Well," Zeref prodded.

"Why should I answer you? Aren't you dead?"

Zeref blinked. His eyebrows scrunched ever so slightly. Lucy was unsure if he was displaying annoyance or anger. Maybe he had something in his eye. This is ridiculous, am I dreaming?

"Yes. Well, No."

"Wha?"

"I am not really dead. No. Tell me when Natsu will get here."

Lucy felt a bit stunned. If he wasn't dead then what the hell had actually happened? Did Natsu know his brother was still alive? Was that why taking so many long term missions? Had she messed up when rewriting the book of END?

"Why do you want to know anything about Natsu?"

"He is my brother." Zeref stated this fact as if it explained everything.

"You tried to kill him not even six months ago. Why would I ever let you near him again?" Lucy was surprised at her ability to keep herself from all out screaming at the man in front of her. Brother or no, how could he expect her to cooperate when everyone she had come to know as family was nearly obliterated because of him.

Suddenly Zeref was crouched down in front of Lucy so that he could be at her eye level. He stared blankly for a few moments before he started talking, "When Mavis and I kissed, intending to finally die together, we did. We died. My curse was broken by the One Magic that I had searched to control all of this time. I can finally reach for happiness and not be terrified of destroying it. I want to reconcile with Natsu. I want my family back."

"How are you alive? Is First Master alive as well?" Lucy couldn't help the curiosity burning through her. She needed to know if this was somehow her fault. After all she had not just re-written the book of END, she had added to it too.

"Mavis is upstairs. Apparently we were given a second chance due to some sort of binding magic. It forced us back to life so that we could try again." Zeref was now staring into Lucy's eyes as if reading the secret she had kept from everyone. Lucy couldn't help but stare back trying to search for some resemblance of a human soul behind the blank look of Zeref's face.

"Natsu won't notice I'm gone." Lucy said quietly. She had found the flicker of sincerity she was looking for buried deep in the blackness. She didn't doubt his words.

Zered now wore an expression she recognized. He was confused. "He always comes for you. I studied your history together, he …"

"He is on a long term mission," Lucy interrupted. "He still has another two or three months to go before anyone expects him to be back. Even then..." Lucy stopped. Looking down into her coffee she still was gripping, she focused on forcing back the tears and choking sob that wanted tear free from her throat. God, why is this still so painful. Lucy forced herself to take a deep breath before continuing, "Even then, he wouldn't be the one to look for me."

Zeref's look of confusion intensified. "Unexceptable," he said. For the first time there was some sort of emotion in his voice. Disappointment, maybe? Lucy wasn't sure. Goosebumps raised on her arms at his tone, and she felt the beginnings of fear coil in her stomach.

After a pause Zeref seemed to snarl in her direction and looked like he might yell, but then he forced himself to turn away. He sat down completely, one leg folded under him and the other bent at the knee, and took several deep breaths. Lucy couldn't help her involuntary response to flinch away. Her reaction made Zeref's head hang in shame.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"If you want your family back and to reconcile, then why did you kidnap me?" Lucy asked softly.

The dark wizard huffed in response. Lucy thought he might not answer, but then he sighed and replied, "It is the only way I know how to do things."

"Does Mavis know I'm here."

Lucy almost laughed and then wanted to cry when she saw the man's face fall into an adorable pout that reminded her so much of Natsu that it physically hurt. "No."

Lucy pushed the reminder of her once friend to the back of her mind, knowing she needed to stay focused on the possibly volatile man in front of her. "May I suggest something?" she asked quietly.

Zeref nodded so Lucy continued, "If you want to gain Natsu's trust, you probably shouldn't initiate contact with him by taking one of his nakama away. You should have just come to the guild, we …"

"And start another war?!" Zeref half shouted, his voice bitter. "Like Fairy Tail would give me any chance to state my case before blowing be off the face of Earthland."

"How are you in love with First Master and still so ignorant of the way her guild operates," Lucy muttered quietly. Zeref still managed to hear her apparently because her sentiment was met with a deadly glare.

Lucy thought about it her predicament and the obvious desire of her kidnapper. She knew that she could help and get things sorted out with the guild. She could help the brothers come together in peace. And didn't she owe at least that much to Natsu after everything he had done to keep her safe over the years. Before Lucy could open her mouth to tell Zeref she would help him, she was interrupted.

"Why? Why did you say he wouldn't come look for you? I know Natsu, he would never leave a friend behind." Zeref was again trying to reach her soul through her eyes. "Especially you."

There was a time not too long ago when words like that would make her blush and feel warmth pool in her chest. The thought of being someone special to Natsu had always made her heart beat faster and her lips curl into a smile. But now she could only shudder and feel cold. She had done this to herself and it was too late to regret her decision.

Before Lucy could answer, not that she wanted to answer, the door to her cell opened. Mavis peeked in, her long silver-blonde hair dusting the rocky surface of the floor. Her green eyes sparkles with mirth in the dim lighting as she smiled at Lucy. Her gaze turned serious as she shifted to look at her love. "Zeref dear, why are you entertaining guests in the dungeon?"

"Uuhh, ah, um," was the stuttering response of the most famous dark wizard in Earthland history. Lucy couldn't stop herself from giggling. Zeref glared in her direction again. Lucy got the feeling that he was blaming her for Master Mavis's appearance, but didn't stop giggling.

"Lucy dear, let's head upstairs and you can tell us why you left yourself out of Natsu's book," Mavis grinned mischievously. Lucy gulped.


	2. Chapter 2

_"Lucy dear, let's head upstairs and you can tell us why you left yourself out of Natsu's book," Mavis grinned mischievously. Lucy gulped._

* * *

How is it that First Master seemed to know what Lucy had done. How could anyone know? Not one member of the guild had even questioned her on the fact that she had inexplicably been able to read and remaster a long dead demonic language in minutes to save the true heart of the guild, Natsu. Sure Gray was there, but he just knew she had done something. She never gave him or anyone else the details. How could she? No one would understand the decisions she had to make.

Lucy's introspection of these facts had her zoned out enough that she didn't realize she was being berated by Zeref on what the hell Mavis was talking about.

"What are you saying, Mavis? It was Lucy who rewrote Natsu's book?" Zeref was sputtering, but Lucy was hearing none of it. "Lucy what does she mean you left yourself out? Lucy? …. Lucy, answer me! …. Hello? What is going on? … LUCY!"

Fingers were being snapped in front of her vision and in surprise she dropped her coffee. The ceramic mug from the cafe she was heisted from dropped onto the rocky floor. The handle broke off and the remaining liquid spilled, filling up the grooves and crevices of the flooring and it quickly streamed towards the startled mage. Lucy scrambled to stand up before her now chilled coffee had the chance to run up her leg and soak into her skirt.

Mavis opened the cell door the rest of the way as she bent over laughing. The First Master was filled with glee as she watched Lucy huff in annoyance, finally letting her true personality shine as she berated the dark wizard sitting on the ground below her.

"Look what you made me do! That was good coffee!" Lucy screeched. Her emotions about Mavis's revelation of knowing her little secret making themselves known in the way she lost control and slapped Zeref on the head. "This is your fault!"

"Ow. Stop. What did I do?" Zeref seemed to lose all aspects of intimidation now that Mavis was in the room. He couldn't force himself to be that person anymore, the dark wizard. That part of him died, he was just Zeref now. A boy who desperately wanted to bring his family back together and gave up everything to do so.

"I was having a perfectly normal day! And then you… grrrr… YOU KIDNAPPED ME!" This time Lucy's foot made contact with Zeref's shoulder causing him to fly across the cramped space and hit into the cell wall. Mavis was on the floor now, rolling, as she laughed so hard she snorted while tears streamed down her face. Mavis had always loved the weird kind of feisty-ness Lucy had. It regularly would take over her normal sense of self preservation and land her in odd situations - like kicking Zeref into a wall.

Lucy was breathing hard from a mix of fear, anger, and exertion. Zeref was groaning in the corner against the wall, and Lucy wanted to kick him again if it would mean she didn't have to have this conversation. Mavis was slowly calming down after nearly killing herself with high pitched peals of laughter. Lucy wanted to run. She felt overly vulnerable and she didn't like it one bit. She knew better, though. She was out classed in every way when it came to the mages in the room with her.

One deep breath later and Mavis seemed to be in control of her faculties enough to speak. "Come on Lucy, I'll make you more coffee."

Lucy hung her head, nodding ever so slightly as she turned to follow the First Master of Fairy Tail out of her basement dungeon and up stairs to the coffee. Why did they even have a dungeon in their basement?

"Aw, don't looks so down, Lucy," First Master chirped. "Zeref didn't mean to ruin your day." Mavis smiled gently. "He is still … adjusting."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Adjusting. Right," was her quiet response. She wasn't even really mad about being kidnapped. She was kind of happy that she might be able to reunite the Dragneel family. Her fears, anger, and worries were more tied with what Mavis knew about Natsu's book and how she came to know that information. Lucy had taken great care to hide the damned book, but apparently she hadn't hidden it well enough.

She followed Mavis up the stairs and found herself in a modest looking home. The stairs from the weird dungeon basement had led them to a hallway that connected a comfortable looking kitchen to a cozy family room. There was an open doorway inside the kitchen that looked like it gave way to a dining room of sorts. She couldn't see into the family room well enough to know what else might be in there. Mavis led Lucy into the kitchen and pointed to a stool that was hidden under and island bar, indicating that Lucy should sit.

Mavis shuffled around the kitchen. She grabbed a step-stool and dragged it over to the cabinet above the dishwasher, climbed up to the top step, balanced on her tiptoes, and pulled out a coffee maker, filters, and coffee. Lucy watched at First Master hopped down from the step-stool and started busying herself with setting up the coffee maker. Within a minute, the smell of freshly brewing coffee wafted through the air and the gentle sound of water filling a cup chased away the overwhelming silence in the room.

Zeref shuffled into the kitchen shortly after the coffee started to brew still rubbing his his shoulder from the impact it had with Lucy's foot. "You didn't have to kick me that hard," he mumbled quietly. Lucy did not respond. She was not sorry.

Two more stools were pulled out from under the kitchen island. Mavis sat next to Lucy and Zeref settled himself across from her. Lucy recognized the situation as an intervention. Mavis was cornering her. Lucy would have none of that. So before either mage could start the line of questioning about Natsu's book, Lucy started doing what she did best. Distraction and diversion.

"I can help get you into the guild safely," Lucy started. Her voice was filled with confidence. "And once you join, it shouldn't be too difficult to set something up to help you," she pointed at Zeref, "and Natsu to reconcile."

Zeref perked up at her words, a ghost of a smile spreading across his lips. "You'd do that for me?"

"Of course."

"Even after everything."

Mavis giggles, "Oh Zeref. You forget who you are talking to." Zeref responded by looking confused. Mavis sighed, "Lucy is the Light of Fairy Tail. She brings everyone together because of her unwavering faith in forgiveness and love. Winning her over is winning over all of Fairy Tail."

Zeref still looked puzzled, glancing between Mavis and Lucy with measured disbelief. "One person cannot possibly hold that much sway over an entire guild."

"I don't!" Lucy exclaimed, embarrassed by First Master's declaration. "I just meant I could sneak you into Master's office and he would help introduce you to the guild as a no longer being a threat."

Mavis rolled her eyes at Lucy's explanation, but Zeref nodded in agreement to her plans. "You are selling yourself short Lucy," Mavis whispered.

Lucy ignored Mavis as she got up from the island and stepped to the coffee pot. She made herself at home and glanced through the cabinets until she found a new mug. Then padded over to the refrigerator looking for milk or cream to add to her cup. "Do you have any honey?" she asked over her shoulder while pulling a container of cream of the fridge.

Before Mavis could answer, Zeref stood and pulled the honey down from the cabinet over the stove and placed it by Lucy's cup on the counter. Instead of going back to his seat, the man leaned his back against the counter as Lucy mixed her coffee together and went back to her seat.

"So how would you get me in without the guild going ballistic."

Lucy blew on her new cup of joe before she answered simply, "Just do what you did to me. I mean, can't you just appear there? I mean, I just blinked and was here, so you must have some sort of teleportation magic you can use."

"Well, um, it wasn't teleportation per se."

"Whatever it was, you can do it again right?"

"Yeah Zeref, you can do it again…" Mavis teased.

The ebony haired wizard scratched at the back of his head, a sheepish grin lining his face. Again Lucy was reminded strongly of Natsu. They had the same smile. The wound in her heart twinged with pain, but her face remained neutral. After six months of practice, she was able to hide her grief without a second thought.

"Uh. No."

Lucy blinked dumbly for a moment. "What do you mean 'No'."

"It was a one time thing, I can't recreate it." Zeref mumbled. He seemed to do that a lot. Lucy was beginning to wonder if the man could annunciate at all, or if mumbling was a permanent state of speech.

"Seriously?!" Lucy felt a bit dumbfounded. He seemed to have gone through a lot more trouble in 'kidnapping' her than she had originally thought. She had kind of thought it was a spur of the moment thing, but apparently he had made specific plans using some sort of rare magic to get her here. These facts made Lucy beg to question why he didn't already know Natsu was out on a job when he did it. It did not seem likely that he would have missed such an important detail. Lucy could feel her hackles rising. Something was going on. She didn't like it one bit.

* * *

Happy was drifting along side his best friend. They had finished their mission way early. This was partially due to the difficulty of the mission being exaggerated along with the fact that Natsu was an overly powerful beast. The process of infiltrating and destroying the dark guild, Midnight Stagg, and all of it's branch locations had been expedited by Natsu's brash personality and extreme interrogation techniques. It didn't hurt that his reputation as END seemed to proceed him everywhere he went. Natsu and Happy were on their way to Magic Council to turn in the guild master as well as collect the reward money.

Midnight Stagg's guild master was currently being dragged behind the irate dragon slayer. Natsu was practically stomping his whole way back to the Magic Council's new headquarters. He muttered incoherently with occasional bouts of the coherent rant about Mard Geer spreading rumors about him to all the dark guild in Earthland. He couldn't go anywhere without at least one member of a dark guild recognizing him and either cowering in fear and screaming for mercy or bowing out of some perverse sign of respect and asking for his leadership. At least the ones who were scared made it easier to take down the guilds. The weird members who bowed made him feel sick and want to vomit. How could they think for even a moment that he, a Fairy Tail mage, would do anything to lead a dark guild. Natsu threw his free hand in the air feeling exasperated.

Happy was not sure how to help his friend. Lucy would have known what to say to calm the slayer down, but for some reason Natsu seemed to be avoiding her ever since the war ended. Happy had been burning to ask why Natsu had seemingly dumped his old partner, but hadn't found the right opportunity to bring it up. Happy missed Lucy. The last six months had been the longest they had gone without doing a mission together since Lucy had joined Fairy Tail. What was even weirder than Natsu avoiding Lucy was the fact that the slayer had yet to even speak of her since defeating Zeref. Happy didn't want to do another mission without their partner, so he decided that now was as good of a time as any to get some answers.

"Natsu," Happy called. "Hey, Natsu," he tried a little louder. His best friend, however, did not seem to notice the Exceed calling to him. The fire mage was completely absorbed in his rant. Happy decided to take extreme measures. Flying down to land on his friend's pink locks, Happy pulled on a few spikes while screaming "NATSU!" into the slayers ear.

Natsu responded by trying to smack his friend off of his head and saying, "Ow! Happy, you know that shit hurts my ears."

Happy simply flew out of reach rolling his eyes at his friend. "I wouldn't have yelled in your ear if you just answered me the first two times I called you name," the Exceed huffed.

"What do ya want, anyway."

"I wanna know why you've been avoiding Lucy!" Happy stated firmly. He had a feeling Natsu might try and dodge the question, but Happy needed answers. He would not let Natsu side step this issue.

"Lucy?" Natsu stopped walking and looked like he was trying to place the name to a face. Happy hovered above watching Natsu's facial features morph from agitation to confusion.

"Yeah, you know, Lucy! Why haven't you been bringing her on our jobs. She's our partner, right?" Happy felt like he needed to clarify. Why was Natsu looking so confused about one of his closest nakama?

"Our partner? You mean the Celestial Mage at the guild, right?" Natsu scratched at his cheek in thought. High eyebrows were scrunched together making him look perplexed. "When did that happen?"

Happy's jaw dropped. He couldn't believe what Natsu was saying. Why was he acting like Lucy wasn't a part of their team? What was going on? Happy's surprise at Natsu feigned ignorance turned to anger. He flew away and then came back gathering momentum to head butt Natsu in the face.

"What the hell Happy!" Natsu temporarily dropped the dark guild's master in favor of rubbing the bruise forming on his left cheek.

"Don't 'what the hell' me mister!" Happy shouted back. He had tears forming in his eyes. "Lucy has been on our team since she joined the guild in x784."

Natsu looked surprised and even more confused. "Happy, we've never had a partner. Are ya feelin' okay buddy?"


	3. Chapter 3

_Natsu looked surprised and even more confused. "Happy, we've never had a partner. Are ya feelin' okay buddy?"_

* * *

Happy wasn't sure what to do with this development. Did Natsu truly not remember Lucy being on their team or had something terrible happened between his partners that was being kept secret? Happy's astonishment at his friend's declaration had him so distracted that his wings vanished and he fell to the ground.

"Woah, Happy, I think I should just carry you the rest of the way to the Magic Council. You must be feeling pretty sick to lose control like that!" Natsu fluidly scooped up his exceed partner and cradled him in one arm. He then bent to grab the rope of their captive and continued down the path.

Happy's tears finally were falling freely. What had happened? Was Lucy affected the same way? What about the rest of the guild? Since the war Natsu hardly spent time in Fairy Tail at all, and Happy had barely been able to say a passing hello to Lucy let alone have a conversation. Happy needed to gauge the situation a little more.

"Natsu?"

"Ya little buddy?"

"You would tell me if something bad happened between you and a guild member, right?"

"Whadda mean? Like when Gray froze my bed?"

"No, I mean something that caused you to not like that person anymore?"

"Well I definitely never liked Gray."

Happy decided to take a different route, "Do you remember when you met Lucy?"

Natsu was silent as he tried to reach back in his memory to find when Lucy first appeared. "I remember she was Cana's partner for S Class exams and she was in the Grand Magic Games." Natsu's forehead was creased as he scrunched up his eyebrows to trying and remember anything else about the girl. "I remember she lost her matches pretty bad. That's it really. Why are you obsessed with this Lucy girl anyway?"

Happy could do nothing but blink at Natsu's response. Maybe if he asked something more specific, "Do you remember doing the mission for Duke Everlue?"

It took a moment before Natsu's eyes lit up with recognition, "Yeah! We had to get that book! After we beat the crap out of all the bad guys we took it back to that Melon guy, right? But when he touched it some spell made the book change and we didn't get a reward." Natsu frowned as he retold the memory. He had a vague sense that he was missing a part of what happened during that mission, but for the life of him he couldn't tell what it was.

Happy frowned. "That was your first mission with Lucy on our team, don't you remember?"

Natsu huffed, "Seriously Happy, when we get back to the guild, I'm gonna have Wendy look you over."

* * *

"Why am I here?" Lucy asked. Her voice had taken on the stern finality of being a highly educated business woman who knew how to take charge of the room.

Zeref shared a look with Mavis who just smiled in return. Zeref looked like he was looking for help before he schooled his expression and replied, "To bring Natsu here. Like I said."

Lucy's eyes narrowed as she straighten her posture and did her best to somehow look down on the mage who was sitting taller than herself. "You planned in advance to kidnap me using a magic you can not readily reproduce. Yet, after all the planning and observing you obviously did to attack me at a time and place where the rest of the guild would not be suspicious of my wearables, you neglected to check if Natsu was even in town?"

Lucy could see Zeref's adam's apple bob in his throat as he gulped and looked to his lover, Mavis, for help. Mavis giggled merrily before singing, "I told you so…"

Lucy sipped at her coffee which was now at an acceptable temperature. She waited for the dark wizard to come clean. Her gaze was hard and steady as she continued to look down on him in a display of continued dominance.

"I told him to get you here," Mavis suddenly intervened. Zeref sighed in relief. "Though, I did not ask him to kidnap you, that was all his idea."

Zeref glared and whisper-mumbled, "Like I could just walk up to her and be like 'Hey, come with me'..." He sounded a bit dejected to Lucy. It was silly.

Lucy went back to sit at the kitchen island with her coffee in hand. "May I ask why?"

Mavis turned serious as she turned to face Lucy on her stool. The green eyes of the First Master seemed to pierce through Lucy's mind and very soul as they regarded her blankly. "We need to know what you did when you rewrote the book of END. I can't find it anywhere to verify our theory."

It was Lucy's turn to gulp. "How did you even know I rewrote it?"

"It wasn't hard to deduce who, Lucy. And it helps that you just confirmed my theory."

First Master looked like she was in the midst of calculating battle tactics as her eyes roamed over Lucy's face and Lucy couldn't help but turn red under the scrutinizing gaze. It was like Mavis was peeling back her skin to get a good read on her scared insides and what secrets they were hiding. In this moment, Lucy was more afraid of Fairy Tail's first master than she ever was of Zeref.

Lucy wanted, no, needed to escape in that moment. Without thinking, she reached for her keys wondering if she could summon Virgo fast enough to have her dig a way out of this situation before her captors could respond. Her keys were gone. Lucy looked down at her hip to confirm and then checked the other side just to be sure. They had been there when she was in the cell, what the hell happened?

"Your keys are safe," Zeref said simply. Lucy jerked her head up and found Zeref holding her key pouch gently in his hands.

"When did you…?"

"When giving you the honey. I figured you might resist the topic when you tried to divert our attention earlier," Zered said simply. Lucy wanted to smack herself hard. How could she be so careless. The presence of the First Master had totally knocked her off her guard. She had put too much trust in the fact that a master of Fairy Tail would not harm one of their own, and now she was stuck. Lucy made a mental note to find a better method of keeping her keys from being taken. It was becoming more than a serious issue.

Lucy didn't want to give into the topic, maybe she could delay a little longer. "Why did you tell me you wanted me here to get Natsu if this was all about the book?"

Zeref huffed, "I figured we could get the information out of you without being straight forward. If we talked about Natsu enough, you might break down and confess some of what you did without having to specifically ask."

"I told him you were too smart for that." Mavis grinned for a moment before turning serious again. "We really need to know what you did, Lucy. Something in that book brought Zeref and I back to life after we died. We need to know what you changed in the book. And what you added."

At least Mavis was no longer talking about the glaring hole Lucy had left in Natsu's memory anymore. She had had no way of knowing that what she changed would force Zeref and Mavis back into the world. Well, Zeref maybe, but Mavis? Lucy looked between the two most powerful wizards she knew and briefly wondered if she should be scared for her life. Were they upset that they had the chance to try again?

"I … I ... ," Lucy stuttered to a start and then stopped. She didn't like keeping secrets. She had been convincing herself over the months that not telling people was different than keeping it a secret. Nobody asked, so why tell them what happened. Now she was being asked. Now she was face to face with some very real consequences of her actions. She wanted to cry.

"Shit," Lucy muttered. Her shoulders hunched and her back curled in a way that made her look like she was trying to become small.

"I am sure, by now, you have come to the conclusion that you cannot run from us," Mavis stated.

Lucy nodded. This sucked. They didn't need to lock her up or chain her down in order to make her feel trapped.

"I don't know where to start."

Zeref scoffed, "Just tell us where the book is and you don't have to start anywhere."

Lucy looked at the wizard's black eyes with a steely determination that he found almost intimidating. "I would never, never betray Natsu like that."

"Betray him?! Are you serious. What about what you've already done to him!" Zeref's voice was on the edge of shouting. Apparently she had hit a sore spot.

"I haven't done anything to him except save his life!" Lucy yelled back. "You.. YOU turned him into a DEMON! Then you tried to KILL him and everyone he ever loved!"

At this Zeref stood up leaning forward across the kitchen island to get into Lucy's face, "At least if I was the one to save him I wouldn't have forced him to forget the love of his life for who knows what reason!"

Lucy stood and leaned forward as well. "What are you even saying? Love of his live, yeah right! You think what I did was worse?! YOU are a murdering PSYCHOPATH!" she screeched.

"So you admit you made him forget you!" Zeref smirked looking triumphant.

Lucy went to jump across the island, hands reaching to strangle the man in front of her while yelling, "Why the hell do you even care!" Lucy felt thin arms circle her waist holding her back, but she didn't stop shouting, "You know nothing about him! Nothing about me! How dare you!" She made one last effort to reach the man's throat, but Mavis's grip and strength was beyond any normal observer's expectations.

"I know plent…"

"ENOUGH!" Mavis's voice bounced off the walls of the kitchen and pierced the fighting duo's ears like razor blades. "You will both sit down, now."

Lucy struggled for a few more seconds, her eyes heated as they stared down the Black Wizard. Zeref just tsk'd in response and sat with a huff. "She started it."

Lucy tried one more time to get free to rip the mage across from her a part, but her struggles were in vain. "Lucy, please, just sit down."

"Fine!" Lucy threw her hands in the air and moved towards her chair. The arms circling her let go and the group remained silent for a minute while the Lucy fought to collect her thoughts.

Mavis was the one who broke the silence. "Lucy, why do you feel like you would betray Natsu if you gave us his book?"

Lucy took a deep breath before saying, "Natsu is a book. His whole life depends on the existence of that book." Lucy paused and looked up towards the ceiling trying to stop the tears she knew were threatening to fall. "Look, Natsu deserves to live his own life. If someone were to possess his book, they would possess his life as well. I have hidden it somewhere it will never be found. If you need to know something about the book, ask me, but I will never tell you where it is."

Mavis nodded in acknowledgement and looked like she agreed with Lucy's reasoning. Meanwhile Zeref looked like he was holding back a few choice comments. Lucy wondered how far they would get in the conversation before she and Zeref were shouting again.

"How did you separate Natsu from being END?" Mavis started with a basic question.

"I didn't," Lucy replied. Mavis raised her eyebrows and Lucy finally gave in. "There was no way to separate Natsu from END anymore. The two halves of his soul were welding back together. Without a better understanding of how Zeref separated Natsu's human and demon selves in the past, I couldn't risk breaking them apart again without possibly destroying Natsu entirely."

"So what did you do instead?"

"I realized that the only way to keep Natsu, well, Natsu, was to bridge his human aspects to his demon ones. As END Natsu was consumed and didn't remember anything of his humanity. To solve that problem, I created a reference to people and places Natsu knew as a human in his demon soul, his book. Then, I built a 'bridge', so to say, between his human memories and soul to the reference created in his demon soul. My hope was that this bridge would force his demon soul to acknowledge and remember his human ties."

"You were attempting to merge his two parts together so that neither one was in full control," Mavis stated.

Lucy nodded. "I did the same for his general moral code as well. I wanted his demon half to remember and abide by his human half's morals. Honesty, forgiveness, love, loyalty, etc."

At this Zeref scoffed again, "There is no possible way you did all of that in the few minutes it took for Natsu to get put back together."

Lucy did her best not to rise to his bait. Well, at least she didn't verbally. She turned a deadly glare his way instead.

"Zeref," Mavis warned, her voice low. Lucy watched the man roll his eyes like a child, but comply nonetheless.

"Did you use any wording in the book that detailed second chances?" was Mavis's next question.

Lucy thought about it. "I don't think I did specifically. Oh wait! Yes I did, it was a part of the bridge for the reference of Fairy Tail. The guild gives all enemies second chances to live again. … Oh!"

"Yeah, Oh!" replied Zeref sarcastically. "I only waited 400 to die..."

"But what does that have to do with First Master?" Lucy questioned. "No offence, but why are you still alive?" Lucy pointed at Mavis.


	4. Chapter 4

_"But what does that have to do with First Master?" Lucy questioned. "No offence, but why are you still alive?" Lucy pointed at Mavis._

* * *

"We're not sure," Mavis replied. "We figured there was something in the way you re-wrote the book that bound the both of us to what it said. We have no way to know for sure unless we look at what you wrote."

Lucy just nodded her head showing that she followed the First Master's reasoning. She stayed quiet otherwise, trying to remember what she would have written that would cause the two of them to come back to life together.

Lucy could remember her exact phrasing in the book: Fairy Tail gives all enemies a second chance to live the path of good. Those who do not change face punishment deserving of their crime. That was it. There wasn't anything that should have acted upon Mavis unless she had at one point been viewed as an enemy of the guild. Maybe Mavis was alive due to some other part of the text. Lucy would need to think about it.

"This is the part where you take us to the book, Lucy," Zeref sneered in Lucy's silence. Lucy did not reply to his comment, however. She was still scanning over her memories trying to find anything that would have linked Mavis to the book and thus brought her back to life for a second chance. It had to have been in the text she used to bridge the Fairy Tail memories to the reference she made, but she couldn't see any logical reason for the current outcome. Hell, she couldn't even figure out why the bridge caused a binding spell that ripped Zeref away from death either. There wasn't anything to suggest that enemies didn't deserve to die.

Maybe it had to do with the line of facts she added to both his demon and human side dealing with who Zeref was and what he had done? No. That didn't make sense either. Facts didn't create a life bond. Maybe it had to do with Natsu's moral code. Generally speaking Natsu was against the taking of life at any cost. But that didn't make sense because Natsu didn't technically kill Zeref, Mavis did. Perhaps she hadn't destroyed the life link between Natsu and Zeref afterall and that was the problem. But then why was Mavis here? Was it the kiss they shared? Was it the One Magic, love?

Zeref's hand hit the island counter making Lucy jump in surprise and fall off the stool. She landed hard on the floor, and her hip, elbow, and shoulder took the brunt of her weight as she landed on the hard tile flooring. Lucy groaned at the sharp pain. That was going to bruise. Maybe she shouldn't sit on the edge of her seat anymore.

"There is no need to destroy the kitchen, dear," Mavis said as she hopped off her own seat and reached out for Lucy and helped her up.

"Then tell that idiot to stop daydreaming and get us the book!" Zeref roared.

"I told you I would never give up Natsu's book to anyone!" Lucy scathed.

"He isn't yours to protect anymore!" Zeref's voice was quiet but menessing. He sounded too much like the old Zeref, the one that tried to kill her guild. Lucy wanted to back away, but she didn't. She needed to keep the book safe no matter what.

"He is my nakama, I will always protect him." Lucy tried to be stern, but she was beginning to fear that perhaps she wasn't nearly as safe as she believed.

Zeref laughed coldly, "How can you even say that after what you did! You took his memories! That doesn't sound like nakama to me." Zeref spat the last part out. His eyes poured out hostility. It seemed to rope around the Celestial Mage making her cringe back from the man across from her. The guilt she had been feeling since the day she rewrote END's book weighed on her like a seven ton anvil, pressing on her chest and keeping her breath locked away.

"You don't understand," Lucy gasped. Her voice so quiet and fragile that the slightest breeze could have swept it away.

"You're damn right I don't understand! All you had to do to save him was break his life bond to me! Why the hell did you feel the need to meddle!?"

"It wasn't that simple!" Lucy shouted. "Breaking his link to you wouldn't have saved him! He was still dying! I had to start over from almost the very beginning." Lucy ended softly.

"Impossible! You only had minutes!" Zeref's eyes were now flashing between black and red. Lucy could feel his rage as if it were a palpale thing pulsing in the air around her. "If you had to do so much in so short of time then there would have been even more missing from him then there already is! But the only thing missing from his book is you! Not to mention the whole bringing myself and Mavis back from the dead."

Lucy couldn't tell which part of that was making him more angry. The fact that she had deliberately not matched Natsu's memories of her to the reference she had made for herself or the fact that Zeref and Mavis were alive. She assumed it was the part where he was still alive. After all he had set a plan in motion that had taken 400 years to come to a finale and now it was all for nothing. At least Agnalocia was still dead. Wait. He was still dead, right? Maybe there were more that were brought back?

"Who else?" Lucy said feeling faint. Had it only affected First Master and Zeref? What about Mard Geer, Jackal, and the rest?

Mavis seemed to know where her mind had gone and was the one to answer, "No one else that we know of. The other demons are all still bond to their books, which we have been collecting and storing."

"You've - you've collected them?" Lucy whimpered. "Even Jackal?" She started to shake as her brain was launched into the nightmare of fighting the demon with bomb curse magic. "H - how? They're books too?"

Zeref scoffed, "None of that matters. What matters is that you need to fix this. I am supposed to be dead and Natsu is supposed to be with you. The end."

Lucy couldn't bring herself to be angry, she was too stunned and scared. Zeref was gathering his Etherious Demons. To "store" them. What did that mean? Lucy wanted to cry. She couldn't go through another war. She couldn't handle seeing her family struggle to survive like that again. Flashes of her guildmates' tortured, battered, bruised, and broken bodies as they fought through pain, logic, and reason to save the world ran through her mind in hyper speed.

"Why not destroy them?" Lucy whispered.

"Don't change the subject! This isn't about the Etherious."

Lucy was finally able to find her anger. How could this not be about the Etherious Demons. That's what Natsu was, wasn't it, and that was what they brought her here to discus. Lucy found herself yelling, "God, Zeref! If you want to die so badly go jump off a cliff for all I care. You don't need me to fix that problem!"

Zeref looked surprised at her outburst. His aura of rage dissipated and he was left just blinking at the blonde. Never in a million years did he ever think he would hear the Celestial Mage who loved all people, even those like him, suggest suicide.

Lucy wasn't done yet. She turned her anger to Mavis and continued, "And you! How could you allow him to gather the Etheriouses' books. Why are they not being destroyed? That is the only way to ensure something like this never happens again!"

Lucy took a deep breath, "You both are so concerned with things that don't matter. Natsu is fine. Your immortality and curse has been ripped away. Use this second chance to destroy the traces of your legacy, not collect it. Destroy the books." Lucy huffed as she looked between her two captures, "I am done with this. Give me my keys. I'm leaving."

"Even Natsu's?" Zeref questioned quietly. "He is, after all, a part of that legacy."

Lucy froze. Her hand was partially outstretched, reaching for her keys. Her eyes bugged out as she realized what she had suggested, and what that would mean if Zeref were to be completely thorough.

"No. Not Natsu's."

"Can't you trust that we will keep the books safe?" Mavis asked.

"I… I don't know. I have faith that you, as a Fairy Tail mage, will keep your word." Lucy then glanced at Zeref and bit her lip. The unspoken 'but' hovering over them.

"It's me you don't trust," Zeref sigh. "Look, all I want is to figure out why I am still here and ensure Natsu's happiness. That's it, I swear."

"I don't know why you are here, I can't answer that question." Lucy stated. She tried to eliminate the anger she'd felt moments ago from her voice, but her statement still held the edge of it. She took a deep breath, hoping that she could end the discussion once and for all. As calmly as she could she relayed her thoughts to her captures, "It doesn't follow anything that I put in the book that would have forced you and Mavis back to life. The full context of the 'second chance' verbiage I used in the Fairy Tail bridge has nothing to do with bringing enemies back from the dead. It just says that they deserve a chance to live a good life. Like what Fairy Tail did for Gajeel, Juvia, and Crime Sorciere. All of them were enemies that were brought into the Fairy Tail family and given a second chance."

Zeref looked at her in frustration, "Really? There is nothing else?"

Mavis smacked Zeref on the head, "Don't be rude. She is trying." Mavis turned back to Lucy and indicated that she should sit back down. "It would really help us if we could at least look through Natsu's book. We may be able to see something that you're missing."

Lucy heaved a sigh. Her head fell into her hands and she scrubbed at her face. Why was this happening to her? People were supposed to just forget. "Uuhhgggg!"

"We aren't going to hurt Natsu. The contradiction that lived in me is gone, like you said. I could never hurt him, not anymore." Zeref sounded like he was pleading with her now. It was such a shift from him biting her head off in rage that Lucy couldn't help but just feel drained from the emotional whiplash. Lucy was feeling determined now to make them understand.

"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't get Natsu's book for you."

Mavis looked at Lucy in a calculating manor while Zeref just looked surprised. "And why is that," First Master asked.

Lucy wish she could just disappear. Maybe she had screwed up by doing things the way she had, but at the time she was so scared of someone finding the book of END and trying to manipulate Natsu that perhaps she had gone a bit far. "Look, it is a long story, bu…"

"We have all the time in the world," Mavis interrupted. "Tell us."

"After the dust settled and I knew for sure that Natsu was still alive, I took his book to hide it. Like I said, I was so scared that someone would come looking for it, that i told no one that I still had it. Instead I made up how it must have gotten lost." Lucy shook her head, pausing to gather her thoughts. She had crossed a line when it came to how she seal his book away, and she knew it. Now she was about to allowed someone else to know that too and she wasn't sure what the consequences would be.

"When I found the right spot for the book to be hidden, I made sure to place a few different types of seals that would conceal the book from sight and also prevent the book from being removed from the location in which it was hidden."

"Where is this place? Seals can be broken, especially when they are put in place by someone as inexperienced as you! We should find it right away and put it with the others. Mavis and I can do stronger seals."

"I don't know where the book is anymore," Lucy answered. Zeref looked confused. "And you don't have to worry about the seals. I.. I used… Uhhgg, why is this so hard? Ahg, I used blood seals!"

"You WHAT?" shouted Mavis. "That is forbidden magic! How did you even learn it?"

"I know! But using these seals was the only want to be absolutely sure!"

"Where did you find the spells?" Zeref asked. Maybe she had used one of his own and he could track it down.

"I made it myself."

"How is that possible?" Mavis questioned. "I know you are smart, but you are a celestial spirit mage? How is it that you are well versed enough in dark magic that you were able to develop your own blood magic seal?"

"The guild library has a lot of reference material in it." Lucy wasn't sure if she wanted to continue explaining, but she realized she had already jumped into the fire and there really wasn't any point in backing out now. "While the books there are meant to help mages in the guild dispel magic like this, it wasn't too difficult to work backwards and find the way to create the spells in the first place. It took some trial and error, but I got everything just right before I did the official casting."

"Blood magic is strong, but it can be broken. They just need your blood, Lucy." Mavis looked a bit miffed, like Lucy had disappointed her by not trying something more.

"It is a little more complicated than that. To dispel the seals one would need more than just my blood, they would need Natsu's too. Also, in order for the blood from Natsu and I to work within the dispelling, Natsu and I would have to be willing participants, otherwise the seal is set to kill the making the attempt. The seal can detect if any kind of coercion, magic or otherwise, has been used on either myself or Natsu and will react appropriately. Also, the seal cannot be broken with the blood of any descendant or relative. It has to be done with using mine and Natsu's blood."

Mavis's look of disappointment turned to one of approval after Lucy explained the seal she had created. "And you will never give your blood willingly for this purpose. Interesting."

"That's all cool and all, but why don't you know where the book is anymore?" Zeref asked. He was impressed by Lucy more an more, but couldn't hide his underlying aggravation at her evading the real questions: Where was the book!

"My spirit Gemini. When they copy someone, they make a perfect copy of that person in that exact moment. That includes memories and emotions they have." Lucy heaved another sigh. This was hard to admit. "They are fairly powerful spirits and once they copy someone, they can also use that person's magic. I had them copy Mest and they used his power to make me forget the location of the book after I hid it."

"So literally no one on Earthland knows where the book of END is." Zeref said. Lucy nodded in agreement.

"I even had Gemi-Mest make Master Makarov, Gray, and Natsu forget the book was missing so they wouldn't ask questions about it."

Mavis looked annoyed now, "Well call Gemi-Mest back out and make them undo the memory loss! I know Mest can do that, so your spirit should be able to as well."

"Then you also remember that Mest can use his memory power on himself. Gemi-Mest has forgotten how to modify memories. So unless they can copy Mest over again, there is no way they can restore mine."

"I'm impressed," Zeref said. "You really thought of everything when it came to keeping Natsu's book safe. Thank you. I feel a bit relieved actually."

"Look, I know you both want answers for why you are still alive, but I honestly do not think you would find them in Natsu's book. Most likely I didn't break the life bond between you and Natsu like I thought I did, so when I patched up Natsu it patch you up too. As for Mavis, her life is bonded to yours through love. She is here because you love her so much. At least, that is what I think."


	5. Chapter 5

_"Look, I know you both want answers for why you are still alive, but I honestly do not think you would find them in Natsu's book. Most likely I didn't break the life bond between you and Natsu like I thought I did, so when I patched up Natsu it patched you up too. As for Mavis, her life is bonded to yours through love. She is here because you love her so much. At least, that is what I think."_

* * *

 _"I didn't take you with me because you're weak! You would have been in the way" Natsu shouted._

 _Lucy couldn't hold back the tears any longer. Ever since Natsu had come back from his year long training trip a crack had appeared between the two friends. The crack had slowly turned into a canyon of space as they drifted further apart, unable to bridge the gap. Today had been the day that the tension of their very strained friendship had snapped. The canyon now turned into the void of space, an infinitely deep and wide casim that the two could no longer see across let alone bridge._

 _"I don't understand Natsu, what are you saying? After all this time, you think I'm weak?" Her tears were that of hurt and anger. Had he been lying to her from the beginning?_

 _"God Luce, don't make me say this!"_

 _"Say what? Was I just a charity case to you all this time!"_

 _Natsu flung his head back in anger and growled in frustration, "Can't you just let this go?"_

 _"No Natsu, I need to understand!" Lucy shouted in return._

 _"Yes!" Natsu shouted. "Are you happy now? I only partnered with you because I felt guilty after bringing such a weak and naive girl to the guild! It was obvious after you followed me to save Macao that you wouldn't survive a simple mission by yourself and it made me feel like shit for even suggesting you join Fairy Tail. I felt so guilty that I tricked you into being my partner out of obligation! I didn't want to have your blood on my hands when you failed a simple mission!"_

 _Natsu was heaving deep angry breaths as he finally let it all out, "I left for that year to get AWAY from you! I hated having to be your constant babysitter!" He was jabbing a finger at her as he continued, "After everything we had been through you still weren't strong enough to do the simplest missions without it becoming life-or-death!" Natsu pushed Lucy back._

 _Lucy was too stunned to reply. Natsu had wanted to just get away from her. Was she that bad? Did all the members of her team feel this way? There was something hollow forming in Lucy's chest. It was like a black hole and it seemed to suck her breath and life away. God it hurt. Tomorrow they would be going to war, all of Fairy Tail verses Zeref and his army. Lucy thought that tomorrow would be a great day to die._

 _Lucy let the momentum of Natsu's push knock her back and she fell to the floor. Everything she had thought she had in Fairy Tail had been ripped from her with his words. Had she really been so blind as to think he was her friend? Romanticized each daring rescue only to not realize that she was just his burden to bear?_

 _"I can't do this anymore, Luce." Natsu's voice became quiet as he sighed out, "When the war is over, I don't want to be on a team with you anymore. I need to be free of this burden, Luce. Please."_

 _Before Lucy could formulate an answer he was turning to leave her apartment. For the first time, he used the door. It slammed behind him with a finality that made Lucy ache with a loneliness she thought she would never have to feel again._

* * *

Lucy shot up in bed, sweat pouring down the back of her neck and drenching the shirt she had borrowed from Zeref the evening before. The nightmare, more like the memory, had been plaguing her almost nightly for the past six months. Lucy hardly slept anymore, usually working long into the night on her novel, or traveling for a job. Her whole body convulsed with the power of the sob that pushed its way out of her throat. The gasping, choking noise was too loud in the quiet of the night; so she used her hand to tightly cover her mouth, muffling the noises so she wouldn't awaken her sleeping companions.

After their talk about the book, Lucy was 'invited' to stay with Mavis and Zeref for the night. She had a feeling she wasn't going to be permitted to leave until they pulled every last drop of information from her about the changes made to Natsu's book. She had a feeling she was going to be stuck here awhile, and she really didn't want the nosey couple to start prying into her restless nights.

Lucy grabbed the pillow behind her and shoved her face into it trying to further muffle the sadness that poured from the hollow place in her chest. Being here was bringing the nightmare on in a vivid detail she hadn't been forced to relive for quite some time. She wanted to scream at them for making her feel this pain again.

Zeref seemed so set on the idea that she and Natsu were meant to stay together, but he, just like everyone else in the guild, was unaware of the fight she and Natsu had the night before the war started. Maybe if she told Zeref and Mavis the truth they would leave it alone and she could make it to the train on time for the job she was taking with the Sabertooth Twin Dragons. She had been partnering with members of the Sabertooth guild on and off for the last 5 months, ever since it became obvious that the rest of Team Natsu was even less interested in doing jobs with her than the forgetful fire mage. In fact, Lucy had become the first duel guild member in years as she now beared both the guild mark of Fairy Tail and Sabertooth.

Lucy forced her breathing to slow and calm, her sobbing quieting into soft hiccups. Usually, Leo would have forced his gate open to comfort her, but Zeref still had her keys. Leo couldn't feel her distress unless she had possession of his key, and so she found herself incredibly alone.

She was getting used to this feeling, however. It wasn't hard to slip back into the ease of being alone considering the childhood she'd had. She knew the ache she was feeling from her fight with Natsu would soon be nothing more than a memory. Even Fairy Tail would eventually be just another memory. Although, despite getting used to the loneliness, she did wish for Yukino's presence. The soft spoken mage had quickly become a source of comfort after Lucy had first attempted to run away to join Sabertooth. Sting had dragged her back to Fairy Tail, throwing her down in Master Makarov's office before striking the deal for her to become a duel guild mage. She didn't understand at the time why Sting didn't let her leave Fairy Tail, and she still didn't understand. He had mumbled something about family, but had never explained his reasoning.

Lucy lay back down on the bed, shoving the pillow back under her head as she stared up at the ceiling willing herself to stay awake. The clock next to the bed indicated that the sun would be rising in less than an hour and Lucy wanted time to calm down before having to face Mavis and Zeref again.

Maybe after this whole debacle was over she would have Master Makarov officially remove her Fairy Tail guild mark. Ever since the unofficial break up of Team Natsu, she had been spending less and less time at the guild. She was now only dropping by the guild on Tuesday mornings so that she could pick up a job request, which she usually had completed by Friday. She would stop by the guild long enough to turn in the job's updated status before meeting Levy and Lisanna for a girls night back at her apartment.

That was her routine two weeks out of each month. The other two weeks she would spend at the Sabertooth guild hall where she was no longer too embarrassed to show her face. She did solo missions and also team missions while staying there, slowly turning the guild into her new home. Today she was supposed to be meeting Sting, Rogue, and Yukino at the train station in Magnolia so they could get a head start on the next job, but she had a feeling she wouldn't make it. She wasn't sure what kind of reaction the three would have to her standing them up. They probably wouldn't think twice about it, she was a newbie, afterall.

A couple hours later and Lucy was back in the kitchen sitting at the island. This time she had a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast in front of her to go with the cup of coffee she desperately needed. Zeref was sitting quietly across from her sipping on his own cup of coffee. His plate of breakfast food already cleaned up and put away. Mavis was out somewhere, apparently. That was all the information she could get from the black hair mage sitting so nonchalantly, anyway.

Lucy timidly picked at her food as she sat, the silence between her and and her companion becoming strained and uncomfortable the longer they sat ignoring one another. When Lucy heard a door open and Mavis call "I'm baaaack!", she heaved a sigh murmuring "Thank god," under her breath.

Hearing multiple sets of feet coming down the hall toward the kitchen, Lucy curiously turned toward the hallway entrance to see who else Mavis had brought with her. To Lucy's udder exasperation, Mavis was toting a confused looking Mest behind her.

"Mest?" Lucy said surprised, "What are you doing here?"

"I brought him so he could undo the memory loss you had Gemi-Mest place over you!" Mavis said happily.

The mage in question was now looking even more confused as he took in the occupants of the kitchen. When Mest's eyes rested on Zeref, the pulse of fear that rocked through his body seemed to ricochet off the walls as he gasped and took a step back. "Zer - Zeref!"

"Don't be like that Mest," Mavis said smiling up at the mage. "Zeref wouldn't hurt even a butterfly now that the curse on him is gone!"

Lucy snorted, "Yeah right!" Zeref glared in her direction and took an angry sip of his coffee.

It was then that Mest become aware that Lucy Heartfilia was there in the room too. "Lucy? What - What is going on?" He staggered back another step.

Lucy ignored his question and instead spoke to Mavis, "He won't be able to retrieve the memory."

Mavis pouted a bit, "Of course he can! It was his magic that suppressed it so he can bring it back."

Chuckling Lucy replied, "No, he can't. Mest can only bring back memories he has personally manipulated. Since Gemi-Mest was the one who manipulated mine, Mest will not be able to fix it."

Mest was looking between Mavis Vermillion, who was supposed to be dead, and Lucy like they were crazy, but he couldn't help but put in his two cents as well, " Lucy is right. I can only fix memories that I myself have manipulated in the past."

Mavis stomped her foot at that, then demanded, "Zeref give Lucy back her keys so that she can call Gemini and have them copy Mest again!"

"It won't work," Lucy sang quietly as Zeref reach for her keys so he could return them. He paused when he heard Lucy.

"Of course it will! If Gemi-Mest did this to you then Gemi-Mest can fix it! You have to remember where you put the book!"

"I told you, when Gemini copy someone, they make an exact copy of that person at that specific time. If Gemini copy Mest now, then they will not be able to fix the memory either since Mest, as he is now, can't fix it."

"MMMRRRRGGH!" Mavis hummed in rage. Never had she been so completely outmaneuvered by someone. In her heart she was pleased at the length Lucy had gone to protect one of her nakama, but currently she was too enraged to enjoy the sentiment.

"This was supposed to be my trump card!" Mavis yelled. "Luuuuucy!" she whined, "why did you have to make this so hard?"

"I am rather impressed, Lucy," Zeref commented. "While I don't understand your motive for making Natsu forget you, I can appreciate the tenacity in your attempts to protect him."

"Wait," Mest interjected, "When you say book… and talk about protecting Natsu, you don't mean you are looking for the book of END, do you?" Mest's question was met with blank looks from Mavis, Zeref, and Lucy. As he wrapped his head around the conversation he just heard, he made the assumption that Lucy knew where the book was at some point, but now did not because she used her spirit to forget. Mavis and Zeref must want to get their hands on it for some reason. His eyes narrowed, there was no way in hell he would ever allow the book of END to fall back into the hands of that monster.

"Lucy, you can't let them find it! If that monster gets his hands on it…"

"You don't have to worry Mest, I have taken every precaution. No one is going to get to Natsu's book ever again." Mest nodded after studying the determined look in Lucy's eyes. She was a Fairy Tail mage. She knew how serious the situation was, and he trusted she had it under control.

"Uhhhg, I guess I'll take him back to the Magic Council," Mavis stated.

"Wait a minute, I'm not leaving until I know Lucy is safe!" Mest cried out as Mavis easily pushed it back into the hallway.

"She's fine! Right Lucy? Look, not even a scratch on her," Mavis said cheerfully. "Let's go, Mest! Don't want you to be missed." And before Lucy could call out for help, they were gone in the blink of an eye.


	6. Chapter 6

Natsu was happy to be home. Worried about Happy and his weird memory issue, Natsu had taken the red-eye train from the Magic Council back to Magnolia. He couldn't stop himself from kissing the dirt of the station platform when the train finally stopped and he was able to wobble his way out of death machine.

Despite being ridiculously tired after the long night of being motion sick, Natsu headed straight to the guild with Happy gliding along beside him. He hoped that Wendy was back from her mission with Romeo and Charla so that he could have her check Happy over with her magic. Without a second thought, Natsu kicked open the guild doors and shouted, "We're Home!"

The general populace of the guild hadn't yet arrived, but Natsu knew if Wendy was home then she would be here eating breakfast with her Exceed. Natsu stood in the doorway for a moment while he scanned the guild looking for a blue head of hair. Damn, she wasn't here yet. Frustrated that he would have to wait to get his little buddy looked at, Natsu made his way up to the bar where Mirajane stood preparing a tray of breakfast food to be delivered to one of the occupied tables in the guild.

Mira smiled at the fire mage, "Morning Natsu, you're here early."

"I just got back from my job. Do you know when Wendy will be back?"

"Uh, I will have to check the log book to see what job she took. Let me deliver this to Gajeel and Levy. I'll be right back."

Natsu just nodded. Of course Levy would be here this early, but why was Gajeel here. Wasn't Gajeel a late riser? Natsu just shrugged.

"You know Natsu, I don't think I need to be seen by Wendy," Happy said for what had to be the one hundredth time. "My memory is fine! It is YOU who needs to get checked over!"

Natsu just rolled his eyes and ignored Happy's comment. Ever since Happy started bringing up that Lucy girl Natsu had racked his brain to find some hint of the memories Happy said he should have. There was nothing there. He wouldn't have just forgotten a friend, especially one that was apparently as close to him as Happy claimed Lucy was. Maybe he could ask Mira about it while he waited on Wendy.

A few minutes later Mira appeared behind the counter again holding the log book where all of the jobs mages in the guild took were listed. She opened the book and looked through some of the pages before she said, "Looks like Wendy and Romeo took a job with Macao and won't be back for another couple of days. Is there something wrong? Do I need to call Porlyusica?"

"Hey Happy, why don't you go check out what Pantherlily is up to," Natsu suggested.

Happy studied Natsu for a moment before nodding his head and saying, "Aye sir," rather unenthusiastically.

When Happy flew off to join the other Exceed, Natsu let out a breath as he turned to face Mirajane. "I'm worried about Happy."

"Oh my, what happened?" Mira's voice was filled with worry. She glanced at the blue cat now sitting at Gajeel and Levy's table. She hadn't noticed anything physically wrong with the small cat, but he had sounded dejected when Natsu sent him away.

"That's the thing Mira, I'm not really sure. He keeps talking about this girl, but I don't get it."

Mira's facial expression quickly turned from one of worry to one of coy curiosity. "Oooh? What girl is that?"

Natsu totally missed the change in the takeover mage at the mention of a girl. "You know that Celestial Spirit Mage? Lucy is her name, I think?"

Mira's face went through a rainbow of expressions with Natsu's statement. At first, she was amused, thinking that Natsu was trying to be silly, but then she noticed his tone of voice and she quickly became confused and then angry. Natsu sounded like he didn't know who Lucy was. On top of that, his voice held a bit of malice in it.

"What about Lucy?" Mira questioned, staying calm despite a building sense of wrongness.

"Happy keeps insisting that this Lucy girl and I are partners!"

"And…" Mira prompted.

"Well, he and I have never had a partner before! So I'm worried!"

Mira couldn't find the words to respond. She gapped at Natsu like he had lost his damn mind, however her expression went completely unnoticed by the oblivious fire mage. She was just barely able to nod her head to give Natsu room to continue.

"The weird thing is, he hadn't even brought her up to me until we were on our way back from this last job. I think one of the mages in the guild we took down might have put some sort of weird memory charm on him. He's been making up all these memories of that Celestial Mage going on missions with us and nothing I say has gotten through to him that the memories aren't real! So I need Wendy to take a look at him."

Mira glanced over at the blue Exceed. He was in deep conversation with the others at his table, who were glancing strangely back at Natsu. Gajeel looked somewhat concerned, but Levy look livid. No doubt the exceed was catching the two up on Natsu's strangeness.

Mira shook her head slightly in awe at what Natsu was saying. Was this why Lucy was barely at the guild anymore? She had been a little concerned when Natsu had gone back to doing solo missions after the war and Agnalocia's defeat, but figured Natsu was keeping himself busy while Lucy was working on her novel. But then there was the whole Sabertooth thing, which had been deeply concerning to the takeover mage. Master had confided in her that Lucy had actually tried to have Sting forcibly remove her Fairy Tail guild mark. Of all the things that Mira thought could have happened between the two of them, Natsu forgetting who Lucy was had not crossed her mind. The Sabertooth incident had been brushed off as Lucy just wanting a change of pace from Fairy Tail craziness, but now Mira knew there had been a lot more going on than that.

"I - I don't think Wendy can help with that," Mira said softly. She had no idea what she should do.

"Uuhhggg, I know that! I just… I don't know what else to do." Mira studied Natsu's expression. He looked tired and sad. She knew that he probably was feeling like he had somehow failed Happy.

"Natsu, what do you know about Lucy?" Mira asked. She needed to get some sort of baseline for what was going on in Natsu's head.

"Happy asked me the same thing! Gah, I don't think I've ever had a conversation with the girl in my life!"

Mira's eyes went wide. She wanted to slap some sense into the dragon slayer. How could he say something like that about his best friend? What the hell had happened to Natsu?

"I mean, you know that, right Mira? You watch everything that goes on in this guild!"

Mira took several deep breaths. Erza and Gray were both due back from jobs today with their teams. She would need to ask them if they had noticed anything else weird about Natsu's memory. In the meantime she would see if she could break him out of this ... whatever this was.

"Did you ever think that maybe Happy isn't the one with the memory problem?"

"What?" Natsu answered incredulously. "There is no way! I remember Lucy partnering with Cana at the last S-Class Trial. They were partners!"

Mira was confused now. He definitely remembered who Lucy was. Mira wondered what the line was? What was he able to remember and what did he forget. Mira thought for a moment and then decided on her next question, "Do you remember when Phantom Lord destroyed the guild and kidnapped her?"

"Phantom Lord kidnapped Lucy? I remember Team Shadowgear getting the bad end of Gajeel's iron, but I didn't think Lucy was involved with that whole thing. I don't even remember her being there." Natsu seemed to be thinking about the whole thing, playing his memories of the incident over in his mind. "Had she even joined the guild yet?"

Mira thought she might faint. How was this possible? "You - You don't remember bringing Lucy to the guild? Saving her from Phantom Lord? Twice! You beat the hell out of Gajeel to get her back!"

"Huh?" Natsu responded. "Mira, you're sounding as crazy as Happy."

"I… I think I need to speak to Master about some jobs!" Mira suddenly said. She was at a complete loss on what to do. It was like Natsu could only remember things about Lucy if they had nothing to do with himself. Before Natsu could said anything Mira was rushing up the stairs of the guild and knocking on Makarov's door.

Natsu watched her go, his face contorted in confusion. Mira has was being as weird as Happy had been on their trip back from their job. He couldn't understand why Mira was more concerned about this Lucy girl than Happy and his memory problem! The fact that Mira was basically telling him that it wasn't Happy with the memory problem seemed completely lost on the fire mage. He huffed in annoyance. Now that Mira was gone, who was he going to order breakfast from? Kinana wasn't here until lunch started. Reluctantly, the dragon slayer rose form the stool he was seated on and made his way to the guild exit.

"Hey Happy, I'm gonna get some sleep, you wanna come with?"

"I'm going to stay with Pantherlily today!" Happy replied.

"Okay buddy, see ya!" Then Natsu was out the door and headed home to his cottage.

* * *

Mira knocked on the Master's door and waited for him to say it was okay to go in. It was good to knock and wait for confirmation before entering. Mira had walked in to too many strange things happening in the tiny Master's office in her lifetime to not knock now.

The quiet, "Come in," was barely uttered before Mira pushed the door open and nearly fell into the office.

"We have a problem Master!"

Makarov was startled by Mira's blunt and rushed statement. The usually sweet barmaid was flustered, which was never a good sign. "Do I need to call Laxus in to join us for this conversation?"

Mira shook her head, "No, I don't think so… Uhng, maybe?" The mage's unease was vibrating off her and Makarov could tell she was shaken.

Makarov grabbed the communication lacrima on his desk and called out to Laxus. "Laxus!"

A rough sounding Laxus answered, "What you want old man?"

"Get down to the guild, Mira's got something we need to discuss."

A deep groan could be heard on the other side of the lacrima, "Can't this wait until a normal time?"

Mira was the one to respond this time, "Laxus, please!"

"Fine," Laxus declared, defeated by the pleading tone in the takeover mage's voice. "I'll be there in 15 minutes." The lacrima went dead.

The fifteen minutes it took waiting for Laxus had Mira nervously pacing the small space of the office while Makarov impatiently tapped his figures on his desk. Neither spoke. Mira didn't want to have to repeat herself once Laxus was here and Master was silently praying to whatever god may be listening that his children weren't going to have to go through another life or death experience.

There was a flash of light and bit of a static shock as Laxus appeared in the room. Mira ran right into the giant as he appeared in her pathway. "Ow, Laxus, watch-it!" she complained, rubbing her nose after it had unceremoniously smacked into Laxus's massive arm.

"Watch what demon? You're the one that ran into me!"

Mira seemed to growl at the man, her satan soul takeover seeming to simmer just below the surface of her skin. "You're the one that appeared out of nowhere!"

"Tsch! Is this what you called me here for, old man? To get yelled at by the resident demon lady?"

"Demon lady?!" A black aura of doom surrounded Mira as her magic pulsed through the room causing her hair to dance as if there were a wind surrounding her.

"Mira! Laxus! Stop this!" Master shouted. The menacing cloud of evil surrounding Mira dissipated as she was suddenly reminded of why she was there in the first place.

"Right, sorry Master," Mira felt a bit ashamed that she had let Laxus get under her skin that way. Now wasn't the time for verbally sparring with the lightning mage. "I came here to talk about Natsu."

"Tsch. What'd that pyro destroy now?"

"No! It's isn't that. Well I don't think it is, anyway."

"Mira, just get out with it," Makarov was losing his patience.

"Something is wrong with him, Master. It is weird, but today when he came into the guild he was asking for Wendy. When I asked why, he claimed that Happy had been suffering from a memory charm."

"A memory charm? What type of memory charm?"

"That's the thing, Master, when I asked what was happening with Happy, he started going on and on about Lucy!"

"Really Mira? You woke me up to give me a relationship update for those two idiots?" Laxus flopped down on the couch in Master's office feeling annoyed.

"Yes! Well, kind of." Mira was getting frustrated. She wasn't sure how to explain her findings. "It was weird Master. Natsu was talking like he no longer knew who Lucy was."

"What? What do you mean?" Master and Laxus both looked confused at Mira's revelation.

"Well, he was complaining that Happy was making up memories involving the 'celestial mage' being his partner. I tried to pry a bit and it's weird Master. Natsu remembers that Lucy is a member of the guild, but it is like any memory that involves him interacting with her directly is gone!"

"How is that possible?" Master questioned.

Laxus snorted, "Trust that flaming idiot to forget the love of his life."

"Laxus!" Mira cried. "This is serious! Haven't you noticed how Lucy seems to be doing everything she can to NOT be at the guild anymore? She even joined Sabertooth as a duel mage to have an excuse to stay away!"

"Lucy joined Sabertooth? When did that happen, gramps?"

"Five months ago," Master answered solemnly.

"I can't believe you let your precious 'light of the guild' run off to those saberbastards," Laxus seemed to find that fact funnier than he probably should have. He let out a laugh at the anger Mira flashed his way.

"Mira, tell me what Natsu said when you asked him about Lucy."

"He was convinced that Lucy was Cana's partner because he remembered they teamed up for the S-Class trials. I asked him if he remembered saving Lucy from Phantom Lord and he said he thought she hadn't even joined the guild yet and only remembered Levy, Jet, and Droy getting beat up."

Master looked puzzled over this information. "I wonder what could have happened to make him forget like that. I've never heard of anything like this. Is Lucy coming in this week?"

"No, she'll be with Sabertooth the next two weeks," Mira answered.

"Damn. Do we know how long Natsu has been this way?"

"Happy might know," Mira thought. "When they come in the guild, Lucy is usually gone, so I haven't seen them together in months. I just assumed he was giving her space while she worked on her book, but now I'm not so sure."

"Call Happy up here. Let's ask him what he knows."

Mira opened the office and went out to look over the second floor railing to see if Happy was still sitting with Pantherlily. Thankfully he was. Mira made eye contact with the blue cat and he started making his way to the office before she even called his name. He must have been waiting to be called in.

Happy flew past Mira and through the Master's door. He made himself comfortable sitting on the Master's desk. Mira followed him in and closed the door behind her.

"This is about Natsu, isn't it," Happy said.

"Tell us what you know, Happy," Master said without any other preamble.

Happy just nodded and started talking, "Natsu hasn't talked about Lucy since the war. We haven't been going to visit her apartment either. I thought something bad had happened between them, so I never brought it up. Yesterday I had finally had enough. I miss Lucy and I wanted to know why Natsu was avoiding her." Happy sniffled a little.

"Has it really been that long?" Mira gasped.

Happy nodded. "Like I said, I thought they had a fight, so I just let it go. But six months is an unusually long time for Natsu to hold a grudge against a friend, especially Lucy. So I asked him what happened, but he acted like I was crazy! He said he had never partnered with Lucy before. He doesn't even seem to remember Team Natsu! He thinks I'm making up things about him and Lucy being friends."

Mira, Laxus, Master, and Happy were startled out of their conversation when they heard the guild door slam open. Sting's voice could be heard even through the closed office door as he shouted, "Oi, Fairy Tail! Where the hell is Blondie?


	7. Chapter 7

_Mira, Laxus, Master, and Happy were startled out of their conversation when they heard the guild door slam open. Sting's voice could be heard even through the closed office door as he shouted, "Oi, Fairy Tail! Where the hell is Blondie?"_

* * *

The group in Makarov's office glanced at each other before rushing to exit the office. Mira reached the railing that looks over the first floor first. In the doorway to the guild she found Sting standing angrily with a unemotional Rogue and a worried Yukino flanking him. Sting walked into the center to the guild. The surrounding mages stayed quiet, watching the scene unfold. Yukino and Rogue stayed by the door and allowed Sting to take the lead. Sting's Exceed, Lector, was confidently following his friend to the center of the guild.

"She was supposed to meet us at the train station over an hour ago and never showed." Sting glanced up towards Makarov's office and met the eyes of the small Master who was now sitting on the railing. "We checked her apartment, she hasn't been there for awhile. Is she out on a job here?" Seeing that there wasn't going to be a fight, most of the guild members turned back to their own conversations.

Mira perked up, "Let me check!" Mira thought that Lucy had finished her last job with the guild on Thursday, but there was a chance she had logged another mission with Kinana when Mira was out on break. So, Mira hurried down to the log book that still lay open on the bar and scanned for the last job Lucy had taken.

Sting approached the bar and Lector jumped up on the counter to watch what Mira was looking at. "You should really switch to the new lacrima job recording system. You can search through your guild records quicker than you can think of what you're looking for. Sabertooth switched over just last month. Lucy handled most of the transition. I'm sure she'd help you do it too, Mirajane."

Mira laughed at Sting's bragging. He was obviously trying to prove sabertooth had one up on Fairy Tail. "Maybe now that Team Natsu doesn't go on missions together we will be able to afford the upgrade," Mira snorted. "It looks like Lucy completed her last job with us on Thursday. Are you sure she isn't on her way to Sabertooth?"

"Nah, I called in with Ogra, she isn't there."

Laxus laughed from the balcony, "What do you expect? Blondie just appearing there?"

"T'sk," was Sting's only reply. Laxus's reply only confirmed his suspicions. She hadn't spoken directly to him, but he could often hear her through the walls in her guild apartment. He assumed she was talking her her spirit, Loke or maybe Virgo. The amount of whispered conversations she had where she insisted that Fairy Tail would not notice her absence if she stayed one more week, had been confusing the young Master of Sabertooth for some time. She was, after all, the proclaimed 'Light of Fairy Tail', how could they not notice she was missing. But Laxus's reply made it all clear. She had mastered using the spirit gates for transportation shortly after joining his guild. She had special permission from the Spirit King himself to travel through the Celestial World at will. The fact that the second in command of her primary guild seemed oblivious to this was odd. How much more was she not saying to either guild? Sting glanced at Makarov, but couldn't get a read on what the man was thinking.

"Of course she would appear there!" Lector retorted. "Don't you know anything?"

"Lector," Sting chidded quietly. "Leave it." Sting didn't want to fight with the Fairies, he just wanted to know his guild member was safe, wherever she was.

Mira was trying to think of where else Lucy would be and missed the exchange between Sting, Lector, and Laxus. Usually, Lucy was in one of four places: the guild, out on a job, her apartment, or Sabertooth. Then a thought occurred to her, "Maybe Lucy heard that Erza and Gray were coming back from their respective jobs today and went to meet them at the train station?"

Sting rolled his eyes, "How stupid are you Fairies? We just came from the train station. If she were waiting on them we would have seen her."

Lector crossed his arms and mimicked Stings annoyance, "Yeah, and Lucy would never go out of her way for those fairy freaks anymore anyway."

Mira couldn't help the shocked expression that morphed her generally good natured smile into a 'O' of surprise. "W-what?" Mira looked up at the Master to get some sort of response from the man, but he said nothing. Laxus, who had been such a gentleman up until a few months ago when his bad attitude came crashing down around him again, just rolled his eyes.

"I know they don't team up much anymore, but they are still friends and …"

Lector seemed to be on a roll, "Friends!" the cat snorted. "Lucy told me they haven't talked in months!"

"Lector! I said leave it," Sting rasped. He was going to question the cat later. Lucy was obviously telling Lector more than she was allowing him or the others hear. Something big had gone down in her team. She had never fully explained to him why she had wanted to join Sabertooth to begin with. He had refused to make her a full member because he didn't want a war with Fairy Tail when they found out he had their 'light'. She said she just needed a change and she was tired of getting thrown into life and death battles every few weeks. He had questioned her about her team, but she brushed it off and changed the subject. He wasn't sure what to think about it now.

"Months?" Mira gasped. Mira felt dread fill her. What if the entire team had forgotten Lucy just like Natsu had? She tried to think back. Surely she had witnessed their paths cross in the guild, hadn't she? They used to meet every morning for breakfast before the war and choose a job to go on. Happy had said that Natsu hadn't interacted with Lucy at all in the last 6 months and Mira hadn't even noticed they hadn't been together. What else had she not noticed about Lucy?

"Look, none of that matters. We just want to know where she is," Sting wanted to leave and get on with the job his team was supposed to be on. Sting turned to address Makarov, "Gramps! You promised me you wouldn't hold her here on weeks she is supposed to be at Sabertooth."

The guild master had been weirdly quiet during the discussion of Lucy's whereabouts. He was not please, however, with Sting's accusation, "You think I would hold one of my own children here against their will?"

"Considering who we are talking about, no I wouldn't put it past you!"

"And just who are we talking about?" came Erza's commanding voice. Sting grimaced as he turned to face the new arrivals.

* * *

Mavis watched Lucy disappear up the stairs after picking at, but never eating, her breakfast. After Mavis had transported Mest out of the house, she had stopped by Fairy Tail. No one knew it was her, she was a master at illusion magic, after all. She had posed as a background guild member and listened to Natsu's conversation with Mira. This was the first day Natsu had brought up the Celestial Mage since Mavis had started her observations. From what she could tell, if Zeref really wanted his little brother to live happily ever after with Lucy, they were going to have to start at ground zero. When Natsu left the guild, Mavis left shortly after.

Mavis sighed. She had been monitoring Lucy and Natsu for a long time, before she 'died' and then again after she 'un-died'. She was going to stop after the war, but Zeref had asked her to continue. He wanted to know that his brother was settling down and had been positive that Natsu would have swept Lucy away by now. He wanted nieces and nephews.

So Mavis had watched and reported to Zeref that the two had gone separate ways. Her dearest had vehemently denied that this was possible, but when she assured him that they hadn't gone on a job together for over a month, he told her to find out why. It had taken a while for her to gather enough information to put together some hypothesis of why the two were no longer partners. She had observed both mages and had found it interesting how Lucy would occasionally still talk about Natsu, yet Natsu had not once mentioned Lucy. It was also obvious that Lucy did everything in her power to never be in the same location as Natsu. Ever.

After stationing herself in strategic locations in the guild hall, Mavis was lucky enough to overhear Gray and Juvia discussing how Natsu was able to live even though Zeref had 'died'. It was then that Mavis learned that the book of END had been rewritten by Lucy. Zeref had been in search of the book since he came back to life only to be met with dead ends everywhere he turned. Learning that Lucy had re-written the book gave her dearest a new lead, one that he became obsessed with. Zeref become positive that the two of them were alive because Lucy had done something wrong when re-writing the book, and, after listening to Mavis's observations, he was positive that Lucy had done something to break a part Natsu's memories. Apparently, this was the only logical explanation the dark mage could come up with for why Natsu wasn't following Lucy around like a lost puppy anymore.

Mavis believed the whole ordeal was becoming overly complicated and convoluted, but Zeref was all about complicated and convoluted. Mavis was all about calculations and facts. It wasn't until she heard Lucy talking to herself on her way home from the guild that she was able to agree with Zeref on the point about messing with Natsu's memories. Lucy had said that she was a little too lonely in Fairy Tail now that Natsu forgot her.

When Mavis reported this back to Zeref, he went silent, which always meant he was scheming. He came up with 'Operation: Kidnap Lucy', codename: Take the Light, shortly after with the goal to fix whatever mistakes Lucy had made in the book. It was obvious, though, after their conversation last night and this morning with the spirit mage, she had not made mistakes. She had made decisions. Why those decisions were made was still the mystery.

Mavis was convinced that they were never going to find where Lucy hid Natsu's book, and even if they did, Lucy would never willingly give blood to break the sealing spells. Even if Lucy was willing, how would they explain it to Natsu so that he would willingly help them as well? Also, from her observations she could tell that Natsu WAS happy, even without the celestial mage by his side. Since Zeref's goal was really just making sure Natsu was happy, she felt like there wasn't any point in trying to continue from here. She knew, however, that once Zeref had an idea in his head, he was probably not going to let it go. Zeref wanted Natsu and Lucy to be together again. He was a romantic at heart.

"You think we should let her leave, don't you," Zeref huffed, pulling his love out from her thoughts.

"Yes. I don't think it matters why she did what she did. It was her decision and this is her path to walk. I was fine playing along with your plan, but now I think there isn't a point."

Zeref rested his elbow on the table and let his head fall into his hands. "I was so sure that it was a mistake she would want to have fixed. I know she loves him, why else would she break so many taboos just to keep him safe?" Zeref's left hand fell away from his face allowing Mavis to see his confusion. "I want to understand why. Then she can go. I won't force her to fix it, she can't now even if she wanted to."

"I think we need to give her some time. It is unlikely she will open up about the situation."

"Maybe she has told someone at the guild. Who are her friends again?"

"She has gone on jobs with Levy's team once or twice, and she had also done a job with Lisanna. I think she spends her Fridays with them." Mavis paused in thought. "There is something else that is concerning me, Zeref. There is something strange going on with the guild."

Zeref raised an eyebrow, indicating that she should continue.

"Ever since Lucy started splitting her time with Sabertooth… It is like the guild had gone dark. I know Lucy had the moniker 'Light of Fairy Tail' but the term seems to be more literal than I thought. Everything that had improved while she was there: the bonds of friendship and nakama, the ability to forgive and let go of anger… All of that seems to be fading out of the guild the more she is absent. I am actually afraid of what will happen to the guild if she leaves altogether."


	8. Chapter 8

_"And just who are we talking about?" came Erza's commanding voice. Sting grimaced as he turned to face the new arrivals._

* * *

"What is Sabertooth doing here?" Gray asked. He looked like he was debating whether a defensive posture was necessary. Juvia stood slightly behind the ice mage and curiously peered around him.

"Master Sting-san? Is Rogue-san here as well?" Juvia pondered when she spotted the mage who had Gray and Erza's feathers in a twist.

"Good day, Juvia," Rogue said, startling Erza who hadn't noticed the shadow mage standing just inside the doors. Jellal put a placating hand on Erza's shoulder before she had a chance to requip her sword. Erza turned quickly to face Rogue and saw Yukino standing quietly at his side.

"Hi Fairy-san," Frosch waved cheerfully, clearly unaware of the mood in the guild hall. The little cat in her pink frog suit was situated in Rogue's arms, but was now wiggling to get free. "Fro and Rogue-chan are here to find Lu-chan," the cat smiled happily up at the new arrivals.

"Lu-chan?" Erza repeated unsure of who the cat meant.

"Lucy. Who else would we bother coming here looking for," Sting replied annoyed. He didn't have time for this. They needed to be getting on the train and heading off to Clover for their job. "Rogue, Yukino, we should look around town. We've got to get going soon to get to the client's location on time. I'll leave a message with Ogra in case she shows at the guild. Let's go."

Sting was on his way to the door before he was stopped by Gray. "What do you want with Lucy?"

Sting was confused, didn't he know that it was Lucy's weeks at Sabertooth? "She was scheduled to leave on a job with us, but she didn't show."

It was Erza's turn to intervene, "I don't believe you. Lucy is a Fairy Tail mage, she has no reason to go on a job with the likes of you."

 _Fairy Tail feels so hostile today_ , Sting thought. This was his first time needing to pick Blondie up from her guild. Usually, if they were meeting in Magnolia before a job, they met at the train station like they were supposed to today. This was the first time Blondie hadn't shown. He had to follow a stale scent trail back to her apartment only to find that she hadn't been there for at least 24 hours (the girl really needed to lock her doors). While there was no fresh trail of Lucy's to follow, he stopped at the the Fairy Tail guild hall just in case. Now here he was finding the place a mess where Lucy was concerned. It seemed like no one had a good handle on the blonde mage, which was weird. He had personally seen times in the past where the entire guild would be riled up in defense of their celestial mage, but now it seemed like even those who were supposedly close to her were clueless as to what was going on in Blondie's life.

While Sting was lost in his thoughts, Lector answered Erza, "Lucy is a Saber! We go on jobs all the time. Don't you fairies know anything?"

Erza, who looked like she was about to attack the group of Sabertooth mages, took a step back. Again she was surprised. "Lucy would never leave Fairy Tail."

Sting turned back to the Master of the guild and glared, "This is ridiculous, Gramps. Get these idiots out of my way so we can look for our guildmate."

"How dare you!" It was Gray now. "Lucy would never leave Fairy Tail, this is her home. You need to leave! Without Lucy!" Gray was placing his fist in the palm of his opposite hand, a blue aura of frost forming where his hand connected.

"You can't have Lucy!" Erza growled.

Even with Jellal's reassuring presence, Erza could not be stopped from requiping into her Heaven's Wheel armor with ten swords circling around her. Jellal gave up being a reassuring presence and dodged out of the way. Juvia, too, decided that she would rather not get in the middle of the dispute, but wanted to stay by her Gray-sama's side. At war with herself she finally decided to just speak her mind.

"Juvia is wondering why Gray-sama and Erza-san are so angry?"

"What? Juvia, how can you not be angry. These bastards are here trying to take Lucy away."

Understanding dawned on Juvia's face, "Juvia thought Gray-sama knew!"

Gray refused to look away from Sabertooth's guild master. The aura of frost crusting slightly over his fingertips in his anger, "Knew what, Juvia?"

"Love rival is a duel-guild member with Fairy Tail and Sabertooth," Juvia stated blankly. She was curious how Gray and Erza could have missed this fact. After all, her love rival spent half of every month at her second guild. Juvia had been so happy when she discovered the blonde mage would be that much more out of the picture that perhaps she had overlooked telling her beloved the news. But that didn't explain Erza not knowing.

Gray's anger turned on Juvia, "You knew? You never said anything to me? When?"

Juvia shrunk back. She hated seeing her Gray-sama angry, especially when that anger was directed at her. Juvia poked her pointer fingers together sheepishly in front of her as she answered, "Since she tried to run away from the guild."

The words hung in the air between the Fairy Tail mages. There was a loud clang as Erza's swords fell to the ground around her and she gasped softly. It was a sound of pain. Her requip faded away, as did her swords. Gray's hands fell to his sides and he looked down at his feet as his brain tried to comprehend what Juvia was saying. The words spoken by Juvia seemed to echo off the walls of the guild as the groups of mages sitting around at their tables slowly fell silent.

"Now that's settled," Sting's voice rang out clearly in the quiet. "While we'd loved to stay and chat, we have a job to get to." He signaled to Rogue and Yukino to follow him out. The three mages and two exceeds were not met with any resistance as they exited the guild.

* * *

Once outside, Sting took a deep breath, "Well that was weird."

"I know what you mean," Yukino agreed. "It was like no one there has any idea what is going on anymore."

"I found it strange that Master Makarov did not attempt to intervene. He stayed quiet."

"Maybe that old geezer has finally lost his mind," Sting commented. He wanted to sneer and yell at the members of Fairy Tail. No wonder Lucy had sought him out. Everyone there was clueless. Nakama his ass. "Rogue, let's see if we can pick up any of Blondies trail before the next train leaves for Clover. I'll call Ogra."

The twin slayers canvas the town taking different directions. Yukino walked to the train station with the exceeds to purchase tickets for the next train to clover. The boys would have about an hour and a half to sniff out Lucy if she was in Magnolia. Yukino couldn't help but be worried. She knew from experience that Lucy could take care of herself. Not only had the celestial mage mastered Star Dress, but she had significantly improved her combat skills while training with various members of Sabertooth and her spirits. Unless Lucy found herself up against some great evil, Yukino had no doubts that her friend would be fine.

Yukino sat on one of the benches near the platform where the train was scheduled to arrive. Lector sat next her her with his arms crossed and a grumpy look on his face. He was probably annoyed that he hadn't gone with Sting. Frosch say on Yukino's lap, staring happily at her surroundings without a care in the world. It was then that her communications lacrima started chiming, indicating an incoming call. Maybe it was Ogra with news of Lucy.

Yukino dug her lacrima out of her bag, pushed a bit of magic into the object to answer the call, and then nearly dropped it as Lucy's face appeared in front of her.

"Hi Yukino!"

"Lucy! Where are you? Sting and Rogue are canvassing all of magnolia looking for you!"

Lucy's face showed surprise, "I'm sorry Yukino! I honestly didn't think you guys would wait this long for me!"

Yukino rolled her eyes. Lucy had been like this a lot. It was hard on the members of Sabertooth who wanted nothing more than to get close to their new celestial mage, but Lucy was set on this twisted logic. Yukino was one of the few Lucy had accepted as a semi-friend, it seemed. The rest of the guild was kept at arm's length. They had all tried and discussed the behavior and after what happened at the Fairy Tail guild hall today, Yukino was sure something big and really bad had happened between Lucy and her team.

"Of course we would wait for you, we were going as a team, Lucy. You didn't answer my question, where are you?"

Lucy's face disappeared for a second, the screen of the lacrima showing a bedroom Yukino did not recognize. For a split second Yukino wondered if Lucy had gotten a boyfriend, but the thought was dismissed as soon as Lucy's face came back in view. "I can't tell where I am."

"What do you mean? Are you in trouble?" Yukino worried her bottom lip with her teeth.

"I mean to say I am not sure where I am and looking outside the window didn't help pinpoint a location. I can't talk long. I just wanted to tell you that I was sorry for missing the train."

"Are you okay? Do you need us to come find you?"

Lucy seemed to think about her answer before she finally sighed and said, "I'm fine Yukino. I am not in any danger. I will meet you guys at Sabertooth as soon as I can, okay?"

In the background of the lacrima screen, Yukino could see a door start to open. A voice that Yukino couldn't place said, "Who are you talking to Lucy? I came to tell you Lunch is ready."

The silhouette of a smaller person with long flowing hair could be seen, but no other details as the light from behind the door was too bright, making it seem like the voice was coming from a mere shadow. Lucy turned to look behind her and Yukino could barely hear her friend curse before she answered, "I'll be right down."

"Did you find my communications lacrima," the voiced asked. The silhouette moved into the room Lucy was in. Before Yukino could see anything else, Lucy ended the call. Yukino stood rather abruptly from the bench. "Lucy!" she called trying to push her magic back into the device to call her friend. Nothing happened. Poor Frosch had been dropped to the ground in Yukino's distress. Lector was comforting the small frog-cat as she cried from the fall.

"Way to go Yukino! Now Rogue is going to be mad because you made Fro cry."

"But that was Lucy!"

"I know, I heard," Lector answered. "She said she was fine didn't she. You didn't need to eject Fro from your lap like that."

Yukino huffed in annoyance at the arrogant cat. He was so much like his best friend that it was almost creepy. Resigned, Yukino pushed her magic into her lacrima, this time concentrating on Rogue. He picked up on the other end rather quickly, "Yukino."

"Lucy just called on my communications lacrima. She isn't in Magnolia that she knows of, but she's okay." Yukino paused shortly before adding, "I think she is being held somewhere? But she claimed she wasn't in any trouble."

"Held somewhere? I'll find Sting and we'll talk when we're all together." Rogue was so no nonsense, it was refreshing some times. He ended the call before Yukino could respond. She was used to this, however, and didn't find it insulting.

The only thing to do now was to sit and wait for the rest of her team. Yukino swept the sniffling Frosch up into her arms, snuggling up to the little cat and whispering apologies before reclaiming her seat on the bench. Lector hopped up and joined her.

"It doesn't matter if Lu-chan is being held somewhere," Lector stated. "I don't even know why you brought it up. She said she was fine."

"Uurrgh, Lector!" Yukino couldn't help but be frustrated at the orange cat. "She was just saying that!"

"What do you mean?"

Yukino was exasperated, but remembered that Lector was too self absorbed (much like Sting) to probably have noticed. "Lucy doesn't believe we like her. She would rather push us away and tell us lies than believe for even a minute that we care enough to help her."

"Lu-chan isn't like that at all!" Lector replied. "She tells Fro and I everything."

Yukino eyed the orange cat. What exactly had Lucy told him and Frosch that she hadn't told the rest of them? She didn't get a chance to follow that line of thought because Rogue and Sting suddenly stood panting in front of her.

"Blondie's been taken? Explain!" Sting demanded.


	9. Chapter 9

_The words hung in the air between the Fairy Tail mages. There was a loud clang as Erza's swords fell to the ground around her and she gasped softly. It was a sound of pain. Her requip faded away, as did her swords. Gray's hands fell to his sides and he looked down at his feet as his brain tried to comprehend what Juvia was saying. The words spoken by Juvia seemed to echo off the walls of the guild as the groups of mages sitting around at their tables slowly fell silent._

* * *

"Wh-what are you saying?" Erza spoke softly. Her gaze trained on the floor and scarlet hair falling to hide her face. "Lucy … ran away?"

Juvia looked to Erza and then back to Gray. Her eyes traveled up to the banister where Master Makarov sat. Why wasn't he saying anything? Surely he could explain things better than Juvia could. Juvia almost sighed in relief when she was rescued from saying anything more by Levy. The solid script mage and her dragon slayer shadow had parted from their corner table and made their way to the group still occupying the entrance of the guild hall.

"Lu has been splitting her time with the Sabertooth guild for just over 5 and half months now. Did you guys really not know?" Levy was confused. Even though Lucy's team had split up, it was strange that they were so completely out of the loop. Levy had assumed that they were still hanging out on a regular basis, but maybe they weren't. Lucy had never indicated one way or another when they had girls night. Although, now that Levy thought about it, girls night without Erza's adamant participation was strange.

"Five months? Are you serious?" Gray asked.

"What have you guys been doin' that you don't even notice Bunny-Girl is gone half the month?" Gajeel grumped. "I thought you were her team?"

"No, Gajeel, Lucy said they split up after Alvarez," Levy corrected.

"S-split u-up? Lucy s-said that?" Erza questioned. She seemed in a daze.

"Well, yeah. I mean you guys haven't been 'Team Natsu' in forever," Levy stated.

"That's not true! We never split the team up," Gray answered angrily. Sure they had all been doing their own thing, but they had never split up the team! He and Juvia had just officially decided to date, so of course he'd want to go on missions with her. And of course Erza would want to go on missions with Jellal now that he didn't have to be in hiding. He had figured that Lucy and Natsu would still be teamed up, like they had been before he and Erza joined them. Gray tried to think back to the last time they had all gone on a mission together but was having trouble remembering. He had been so wrapped up in his new relationship that he hadn't realized nearly half a year had passed since the war ended and Acnologia was destroyed. Had it really been that long since he hung out with Lucy, too?

"Why ya'all standing in the doorway? And why do I smell Sting?" It was Natsu. "If he's in town, I wanna fight 'em!"

Gray looked up at Natsu with hope in his eyes. If anyone would know what was going on with Lucy, it would be the flame-brained idiot. "Ash-for-Brains, where is Luce?"

"Oi, popsicle-dick, put your clothes back on and then maybe I'll answer ya!" Natsu pushed past Gray to enter the guild, seemingly forgetting his desire to fight the white dragon slayer. He stopped suddenly and turned around, "Who's Luce? Do ya mean that Lucy girl Happy's obsessed with?"

Gray's mouth dropped, but he quickly recovered, "Hah, yeah right! You mean the girl YOU'RE obsessed with."

Natsu looked angry at Gray's words, "Not you too, ice-prick! I don't even know the girl."

"Do-don't know her?" Erza repeated the words. Erza seemed to snap out of her daze and her head whipped up to look at Master. "You will explain, Master. What is going on?"

Makarov cleared his throat, finally deciding to put in his two cents, "It would seem that Natsu has lost his memories of Lucy, and Lucy may or may not be missing."

"Tsch, who cares, old man," Laxus grumbled. "She isn't even a true member of our guild anymore now that she's hangin' around the Sabers. Let them deal with it." Laxus pushed away from the banister and headed towards his own office. He was sick of all this nonsense anyway. The girl was probably out shopping and forgot the time, knowing Lucy. And who cared if Natsu remembered her or not, the guy looked happier than ever these last few months.

There was a chorus of agreement across the guild hall:

"Yeah, let them deal with it!"

"She's only half Fairy anyway!"

"If she doesn't want to be here, why bother."

"A real man never runs away!"

"Does Lucy even do jobs anymore?"

"What do you mean I lost my memories?" Natsu shouted over the commotion of the guild. "I could never forget my nakama!"

"Oh please. You burn away more brain cells in a day tha…"

"You wanna go ice-breath?" Natsu's head collided with Grays and they glared menacingly at each other.

"Yeah, I'll fight you until you stop being so stupid and remember Lucy!" Gray threw the first punch, hitting Natsu across the jaw. It quickly escalated from there as they bumped into Juvia who was unceremoniously thrown across the guild into Elfman. The domino effect of guild brawls that naturally occured in Fairy Tail stalled out once Elfman righted Juvia. Instead of jumping in and raving about 'real men', the mage simply sat back down at his table facing Evergreen.

"Immature brutes," Ever sneered at the two fighting mages. Elfman nodded his head and the rest of the guild ignored the two fighting.

"How could Natsu have forgotten Lucy," Levy gasped looking worriedly up at Gajeel.

The iron mage shrugged in response, not sure how to react to the news. He was actually feeling more worried about the state of the guild as a whole than Natsu's grey matter. Was this the first time Gray and Natsu fought since Alvarez? He couldn't remember. Things had been feeling weird in the guild for awhile now, but he hadn't been able to put his finger on it. It was darker somehow. Less fun. Less friendly. He never would have thought he'd hear members of Fairy Tail actively agreeing that a guild mate, that nakama, wasn't important. He especially never thought it would happen to Bunny-Girl. What was going on?

Surprisingly enough, Erza ignored the raging battle between Gray and Natsu. Her eyes were solely focus on the guild Master. Why hadn't he told her that Lucy was joining Sabertooth? Why hadn't Lucy said something? Erza searched her memories and then groaned. Lucy had tried…

 _"Hey Erza, I picked out this job and was wondering if you and Jellal would like to join me? It isn't super hard, but I thought it would be nice to catch up!" Lucy chirped happily._

 _Erza was annoyed, couldn't her friend see that right now wasn't a good time. Jellal and Crime Sorciere were getting ready to take down a dark guild that was still trying to rile forces in the name of Zeref. "No Lucy, not now. I'm leaving with Crime Sorciere in the morning…"_

 _"Oh! Can I join? You're taking down that dark guild near Tuly Village, right?"_

 _"No Lucy, it will be too dangerous for you."_

 _"Oh… Uh… Well, maybe some other time then." The smile on Lucy's face was struggling to stay put, the corner of her mouth threatening to pull down into a frown. "Good luck."_

…..

 _"Erza, Jellal! You're back! How was the job?"_

 _Jellal, with a warm smile on his face, nodded at Lucy to indicate that all was well and they had been successful. Lucy smiled radiantly back at the blue haired mage before turning to Erza. "You'll have to tell me all about it. What kinds of magic did the members of the guild have? Anything I can use in my next novel?"_

 _Erza heaved a sigh and glared down at Lucy, "I'm tired now, Lucy, maybe we can chat about it another time."_

 _"Of course, I'm sorry. I guess I was just excited to hear about it since I wasn't allowed to go!"_

 _"Why weren't you allowed to come? We could have used your help!" Jellal said, kindly._

 _Lucy looked between Erza and Jellal with confusion clouding her eyes. "Erza said it was too dangerous for me to go," Lucy whispered._

 _Jellal looked at Erza showing an equal amount of confusion. "It wasn't that dangerous. Lucy would have been a great asset."_

 _Erza huffed, irritated that Lucy had to open her big mouth. Was it too much to ask to want time with Jellal without her blonde teammate?_

…

 _"Hey Erza, can I talk to you for a minute?" Lucy asked quietly, almost like she was being shy. As endearing as Erza found Lucy's behavior she just didn't have the patience to listen to Lucy's money trouble. Jellal would be leaving with Crime Sorciere for an indefinite amount of time later that afternoon and she didn't want to lose any time she had left with her lover._

 _"Can this wait? I want to spend more time with Jellal before he has to leave for Bosco. He isn't sure how long he will be gone and I want to have more time with him."_

 _"Um, sure, Erza. I am sorry I bothered you."_

 _"We'll talk tomorrow, okay?" Erza replied, distracted as she seared the guild for blue hair._

 _"Sure."_

 _The next day, Erza had forgotten and Lucy took a solo job to escape the pain._

…..

And that was just a few of the times her teammate had approached her. Erza felt a pang in her chest. Did she do this? Did she chase Lucy away into the arms of another guild? What about Gray? Had she approached Gray to go on jobs and to talk too only to be turned down in favor of Juvia? How long ago did Natsu start forgetting about Lucy? How long had the celestial mage been on her own before she tried to leave the guild?


	10. Chapter 10

Mavis hadn't been mad that Lucy contacted her Sabertooth team. When Lucy had quickly ended the call with Yukino, she had been concerned that she had crossed the line of forced house guest to possible prisoner. Mavis had at first looked peeved, but after Lucy had explained she just didn't want them to worry after her, the First Guild master calmed down. Especially when Lucy told her that she didn't mention either Mavis or Zeref in the call. Neither of the two recently un-deceased were ready to step back into the world in any recognizable capacity.

Little did Mavis know that both Lucy and Zeref were scheming how to change that fact. Zeref hoping to not just reconcile with his brother, but to also ensure Natsu and Lucy's future together. Despite his arguments with the young mage, he was rather fond of her. Lucy, on the other hand, was hoping that the return of the two opposites (Life/Light in Mavis and Death/Dark in Zeref) would be enough of a distraction at Fairy Tail for her to make a final exit while doing one last good deed of reuniting the Dragneel family.

Lucy was hopeful that Yukino would not over react to the call they had together. Yukino had a steady head on her shoulders and generally did not go overboard, which is why she called her directly instead of Sting. Sting was too much like Natsu, he acted before he thought it through. Well, that was how Natsu pretended to be, she guessed. After-all, the whole thing had been a sham.

Lucy followed Mavis back into the kitchen for lunch. There was steamed white rice, pan fried veggies in teriyaki sauce, with some sort of meat set out on the counter.

"I didn't know if you ate meat, Lucy, so I kept the stir fry veggies separate from the pork," Zeref explained politely. "Feel free to serve yourself. There are plates above in the cabinet and silverware is in the draw to the left of the sink."

Lucy nodded, "Thanks Zeref." She couldn't help herself from mumbling, "That is so weird to say." Lucy searched for a plate and put the bare minimum of food on it to be polite. She wasn't very hungry. Not only was her current situation odd, but the memories that they were forcing her to relive were causing her to lose her appetite.

She wondered if Mest made it back to the Magic Council with his memory in tack. What would they do if he came in saying he had just seen Zeref and Master Mavis alive and well, hanging out with Lucy Heartfilia, discussing the Book of END. Hopefully they would say he had too much to drink and ignore him. Although, Lucy was certain that Mest had been sober since he was brought back into the fold of things by Lahar before the Grand Magic Games. Maybe he would use his direct line magic and go straight to Fairy Tail to tell them that they had failed in killing the dark wizard. Oh the chaos. She hoped that Mavis had some trick up her sleeve to keep that from happening. Lucy wasn't ready yet to have Fairy Tail descend on her before she had figured out how to approach the guild.

"Lucy," Mavis's sweet voice broke Lucy from her train of thought. "You don't seem to be eating much."

"I'm sorry First, I just am not that hungry today," Lucy tried to smile, but her face didn't want to cooperate. Instead she was sure a scary looking half sneer had appeared on her lips in the failed attempt.

Mavis nodded. Zeref made eye contact with her from the fridge, trying to push Mavis into starting the conversation they were both dying to have with the celestial mage. Lucy glanced between the two, catching the significant look passed from Zeref to his lover. She groaned. They weren't dropping this. Why? What did it matter?

"Please, for the love of all that is celestial, do not ask me to find the book," Lucy tried to cut off the conversation before it started. "I will not help you. I will not give blood for the seals. Just please, things are good the way they are." Lucy was pleading. She might still be able to make the job with Sabertooth today if they would just understand there was nothing to fix. Well, except maybe whatever hiccup that caused them to not die. And possibly the whole 'if Zeref dies, Natsu dies and possibly Mavis because now they all MIGHT be linked' thing. Lucy was curious how to test that theory, but wasn't about to kill anyone to find out. This time she would not be able to get to the book in time to save them if they were linked in that way.

"Actually, we weren't going to ask you for any of that," Zeref said. His eyes had widened when Lucy spoke up, but his voice stayed relatively monotone in his reply. Zeref knew he wasn't going to be able to fix the book anymore to give Natsu's memories back that way (since he would never see the book again because of Lucy). That didn't mean, however, that he couldn't find another way for Natsu's two souls to bridge the memories together on their own with the correct stimulation. He needed to know what had broken between the two so he could figure out a way to repair it.

"Then what else is there? I said I would help you reach out to Natsu, and I will if that is what you actually want, but I will need some time to set things up. You need to let me leave so I can do that."

Zeref nodded, "Yes, I do still want that."

"You're free to leave, Lucy," Mavis said. Then she snorted, "I mean you aren't our prisoner!"

"Could have fooled me, miss 'I have a dungeon in my basement'."

"Oh, that? It was an illusion. Zeref just had you in our spare room."

"Your illusions can change the texture of the environment?" Lucy wondered if their spare room just was made out of rocks or if Mavis's illusions were really that powerful. After all, the flooring of the 'cell' she thought she was in scraped her upper thigh a bit when she got up and kicked Zeref for spilling her coffee. Mavis just shrugged in response.

"Okay, so if I am allowed to leave, can I please have my keys back?"

"Not quite yet," Mavis grinned mysteriously. "If you want your keys back, than you will have to answer our questions."

"Gaaaahhh," Lucy wasn't surprised by the stipulation, but she had rather hoped they would be finished with her. She couldn't gate jump without her keys in hand. She was stuck. She should have given the book to Levy to rewrite. Not that she had time to do that… And of course Levy had been half dead just like everyone else at the time… So… Stuck. She should have trained harder. Loke had mentioned that if her connection to the Celestial World grew strong enough she wouldn't need the keys, just the contracts, to call her spirits. Maybe it was time to work with Capricorn on mastering that handy skill.

Zeref walked to the table where Lucy sat with her cold lunch that was mostly untouched. He pulled out a chair to join her with a re-heated plate of rice, veggies, and pork. "We aren't torturing you, Lucy. We just want to understand."

"I told you I don't know why you are still alive! There isn't anything else I can do. Give me my keys!"

Zeref sighed, "While I am curious to understand why Mavis and I are still here, I am no longer talking about our livelihood."

Lucy raise an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue. When he didn't say anything she rolled her eyes in annoyance and demanded "What, then?"

"Why did you keep the memories Natsu's human half had of you from his demon half?" Zeref asked rather bluntly.

"Why is this something that matters so much to you," Lucy stalled. "I haven't heard anyone say that Natsu isn't happy the way things are."

"How would you know?" Mavis asked. "You are never at the guild anymore. You only ever talk to Levy and Lisanna unless you are accepting or completing a job. In fact, I don't think you have allowed your path to cross with Natsu's at all since the defeat of Acnologia."

Lucy pouted. Of course she hadn't crossed paths with Natsu. It would have been too painful. The hole he left in her was still a gaping wound that had festered and grown infected. Each time her teammates and guildmates rejected or ignored her after the war had carved the whole anew leaving her bleeding and shaking in her resolve to stay strong.

She had been hurt after Tartarus when Natsu left, but she had faith their paths would cross again. She had been devastated that the guild had disbanded and everyone left without saying goodbye. She had sacrificed so much for them only for them to turn their backs on her, and Fairy Tail, and walk away.

When Natsu re-appeared at the Grand Magic Games, she thought that finally her sacrifice would mean something, that her family would come back and everything would be okay. But that isn't really what happened. Sure Natsu pulled her on a crazy adventure to get Fairy Tail put back together, but now she knew the truth. She was just convenient. A place to stay, food to eat, an obligation to string along after using her up. He didn't want her back at the guild so they could stay friends, he wanted her bed, her fridge, and her apartment because it was kept clean and stocked for him to use at his convenience. He called it payback for all the times he saved her life. She had owed him at least that much. The bitterness of his confession before the war made her nauseous to remember.

At first, she was sure she could keep up appearances at the guild. Even as Gray ignored her existence because he didn't want to make Juvia jealous and Erza rejected Lucy as a friend and competent mage, she was able to hang on because Levy and Lisanna stepped up to fill some of that space. But working with her friends didn't feel the same as it had when she was on Team Natsu. She felt out of place and in the way. They assured her that it wasn't the case and they loved taking her on jobs with them, but Lucy was too far down in her own depression to take what they said to heart. Natsu's words rang in her ears every time she went out on a job with anyone at Fairy Tail: "You're a burden. We all think so." Some 'light' she turned out to be.

"Lucy, please tell us what happened." Lucy was jerked from her thoughts as Zeref laid a hand over hers. His voice was soft now, filled with some sort of emotion she wasn't sure if she could identify.

Resigned to give them enough information to free her keys, Lucy spoke, "We had a pretty big fight the day before your army attacked. When Natsu had left for a year of training after we fought Tartarus, our friendship never really recovered. I thought it was just because he was still mourning the loss of Igneel, and when I confronted him about it, we argued."

Lucy could feel tears prick at the back of her eyes. This was the first time she would talk about this outloud to anyone. She hadn't even talked to Loke about it, despite all the nights he spent comforting her after her nightmares. Perhaps that hadn't been fair. As if he could read her thoughts, even without his key in her possession, he appeared next to Zeref in a plum of golden sparkles.

"Lucy…" the lion spirit whispered. "I have been trying to force my gate open since last night. I'm sorry I wasn't there after your nightmare." Loke turned to Zeref, his fist glowed brightly and threateningly as he shouted, "What's the big idea blocking my gate like that? You better not have hurt her! I'll..."

"Loke, I'm fine, really."

Her spirit was by her side in a blink of an eye. His arms wrapped securely around her shoulders as he leaned over her protectively. "I could feel your distress. The Spirit King helped me open my gate so I could come to your side." A banner of 'I love Lucy' suddenly glowed in neon lights above the pair and the lion nuzzled his master.

Zeref was looking rather surprised at the appearance of and scolding from Lucy's lion. She really did have a powerful bond with some of her spirits. It was an amazing feat to have even the Spirit King aid her when she was feeling distressed. But Lucy wasn't done answering the question. An argument should not have lead to her to basically delete herself from Natsu's life.

"Please continue Lucy," Mavis pleaded as Zeref wondered just how powerful the Spirit King was.

"Lucy, you don't have to talk about this. It isn't their business."

"I know, Loke. But.. The won't give me back my keys until I do." Loke growled at Zeref in response to Lucy's comment. He stood threateningly beside her. Lucy placed a placating hand on his arm, "It is probably time, though, don't you think? For me to tell someone?"

Loke's shoulders slumped. He had been so patient waiting for Lucy to open up to him. He never pushed her to reveal what caused the two to separate the way they had. Now, she was opening up to virtually strangers. He felt defeated and angry. Why them? Lucy pulled on the sleeve of his suit. Loke looked down into her dull brown eyes. They used to be so full of light and love. They sparkled with tones of honey when the light struck them, but now they looked flat and ugly.

"Stay with me Loke, I can't do with without you here." His anger softened as he looked at her desperate and pleading features. He nodded his head and sat at the table beside her, allowing his mage to continue at her own pace.


	11. Chapter 11

_"Stay with me Loke, I can't do this with without you here." His anger softened as he looked at her desperate and pleading features. He nodded his head and sat at the table beside her, allowing his mage to continue at her own pace._

* * *

Lucy grabbed on to Loke's hand. She had been meaning to tell him everything, but it never seemed like the right time. Holding the pain in seemed easier than letting it out. She was sure that if people heard and saw how much pain she was in they would scoff and tell her that she was overreacting and to just move on. But she couldn't.

Lucy took a deep breath and then started her story, "At first I just approached him and asked if he was okay. He told me he was fine, but we'd been around each other so much, I knew he was lying. I assumed he was still upset that Igneel had died just when Natsu had finally found him again. So I told him he could talk to me about it and that I understood since I had lost both of my parents too.

"Natsu didn't respond well. I thought that perhaps I had just caught him in a bad mood, but that wasn't the case." Lucy wanted to stop talking about it - the fight had broken her so deeply, but she wanted her keys back so she had to keep going. Her spirits were her only family, the only ones who wouldn't leave her… couldn't leave her. "He told me that he had left for a year so he could avoid hearing me ask about it and I shouldn't ask about it now. I was surprised and asked if that was the reason he didn't take me with him when he left after Tartarus." This was where it was going to get hard, "He told me that he didn't want me with him because I was weak and would have been in the way. He told me he made me his partner due to obligation and guilt for bringing me to the guild. He said that he knew I would never be able to do even simple missions without screwing it up and he didn't want my blood on his hands. He told me he wanted to be free of the burden I put on him when the war was over."

Lucy paused. She had been doing good about not crying until she said that last part. Lucy let her head fall back and glared at the ceiling willing her tears to stay back as she blinked furiously.

Loke's posture was stiff, his jaw clenched, and he had to consciously restrain himself from gripping Lucy's hand too hard. He was livid. As Lucy paused her story a soft growling noise rumbled in his chest. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He and the other spirits under contract with Lucy had been sure that Natsu was in fact in love with their mage, so hearing what Lucy was saying was not only surprising but filled him with a deep sense of loathing for the fire mage. The fact that the dragon slayer called Lucy weak was enough for Loke to crave the man's blood, but the fact that he, instead of helping her become stronger, had strung her along on dangerous quests like… like he wanted her to be in harm's way. No. Loke just couldn't believe that that was true. Natsu was an idiot. He was dense. But he wasn't cruel. Why had he said these things?

Mavis gasped in response. "Natsu said those things?" She glanced over at Zeref, trying to gage what was going on in her lover's mind after hearing what Lucy said. Zeref's face looked like it had frozen in time showing nothing but disbelief. He wasn't even blinking. Just staring at Lucy, waiting for something else to happen.

Lucy nodded in response to Mavis and sniffled. Her tears were under control again for now. Taking a shaky breath she continued, "That isn't the end of it."

With those words Loke's restraint wavered as he crushed her hand in his. His anger flaring. Lucy squeaked in protest and he reigned in his emotions and eased the pressure off her fingers. "What else happened Lucy?" he asked, trying to sound calm and soothing.

"He left my apartment at that point. At first I was just going to let him go," Lucy sighed deeply, trying to calm herself again, "but I didn't. I ran after him."

…

 _Natsu hadn't gotten far when Lucy caught up to him. Tears were streaming down her face and her breath was labored and raspy from sobbing as she ran. She forced her voice to work as she shouted, "NATSU! Wait, please."_

 _The dragon slayer didn't slow down, but she could tell by the way his shoulders stiffened that he had heard her. Lucy's mind was a mess, as she jogged so that she was walking beside the man she had come to love._

 _"Natsu, stop!" she sobbed. When he still didn't slow or respond, Lucy grabbed on to his arm and forced him to stop and face her._

 _"Stop Luce, you're making a scene!" Natsu whisper shouted at her._

 _"Just talk to me Natsu!" Lucy pleaded. "I know you didn't mean what you said! You love all members of Fairy Tail no matter what. The first mission we went on you said so yourself! You consider everyone in Fairy Tail to be your friend, to be your nakama! You believe in all of us!"_

 _"Tsch! I don't want to talk about this with you anymore, Lucy. I said my piece and I meant every word." Natsu tried to turn and leave, but Lucy grabbed his arm again and forced him to stay._

 _"I'm not done god dammit! You said your piece, but what about me? I get a say in this too, right?"_

 _"Fine. Say what you need to say, but it won't change anything. I don't want anything to do with you anymore Lucy."_

 _At his words Lucy almost fell to the ground as the pain in her chest twisted into something on a whole new level. Grief unlike anything she had ever experience seemed to crush her heart. Yet she forced herself to stand tall. She didn't care if what she had to say didn't change anything, she knew she had to put it all out there._

 _"Natsu, I never asked you to do any of those things for me. I never asked to be your partner, I never asked for you to save me. YOU did that all on your own. You were my first friend. You were the one to help me find a new family. You took me on amazing adventures," Lucy paused mustering up the strength to say the last part. "Argh, Natsu, it doesn't matter what you say or do to me now because I know I love you. There is and never will be anyone else but you."_

 _Natsu stepped back from Lucy as if she'd burned him. "You can't just say something like that," he was angry at her. His eyes glared at her in a way she had only ever seen him look at enemies. His stance was aggressive, like he was debating attacking her for speaking those words. Lucy's hand moved to cover her mouth as an aching sob toar out of her throat at his reaction._

 _"God, Lucy. Don't you get it, I don't want you. Fairy Tail doesn't want you. You are a burden. Everyone thinks so." Natsu put emphasis on each sentence, ensuring his meaning was clear. He took another step back and Lucy's knees finally gave out. Her hands covered her face as his words sunk in. Everyone._

 _"Don't follow me again. Don't even talk to me!" Lucy could hear his feet scrape against the cobblestones as he left her._

…

When Lucy finished she was sobbing again and was barely able to finish the tale. Her grip on her loyal lion's hand was so strong he was certain that a bone or two had cracked in his fingers. As her voice faded, Loke pulled her out of her chair, onto his lap, and into his arms. He held her has her body shook. Her breathing was ragged and the air moving through her lungs sounded like it was scraping away at her throat each time she took a breath. Through their bond, Loke could feel the swell of grief and sorrow. The feeling was so overwhelming that he could not stop the leakage of tears from his own eyes.

"No! No, that isn't right!" Zeref's eyes were red and angry. "You're lying, Natsu would never say something like that to anyone!" He stood up in his anger, the chair he was sitting in pushed out and fell over in his haste. A fist slammed on the table so hard that the wood cracked.

Loke growled, "You think if she were lying she would be hurting this bad?"

"Zeref, sit down," Mavis said sternly. She pulled on his arm hard enough to make him stumble. His feet tripped on the chair legs as he tried to catch himself and he fell. His elbow hit off the table and the black mage swore loudly as he hit the ground. Grumbling incoherently, Zeref managed to get up, put the chair upright, and sit back down without breaking anything, which he was very proud of himself for given his state of anger and unease.

Once Zeref was seated Mavis turned her attention to the sobbing mess that was Lucy. "You chose not to give Natsu his memories of you because you believe that is what he would want," she concluded softly. "You've been absent from the guild because you no longer feel welcome."

Lucy was barely able to nod her head in agreement.

"Lucy, oh Lucy," Loke moaned in distress. "The guild loves you, everyone there loves you. They need you. You have to realize that what Natsu said just isn't true."

Lucy quieted for a moment and sniffled, "It doesn't matter. I can't get his words out of my head. Erza has rejected every attempt I've made to talk to her about it, to go on jobs with her, to do anything together. Gray told me... he TOLD me that he didn't want to hang out anymore because Juvia would get jealous and she meant the world to him. When I go into the guild no one even says hello to me anymore, even when I stop to say hi to them. Oh Loke, I know Fairy Tail is your home and I would never ask you to leave it, but I am. After this, I just can't go back there anymore. If you want to dissolve our contract, I understand." More sniffling, and then another loud, uncontrolled sob.

"I would never leave you, Lucy," Loke replied quietly. "Never."


	12. Chapter 12

" _Blondie's been taken? Explain!" Sting demanded._

* * *

"I never said she was taken!" Yukino huffed back. "What did you tell him, Rogue?"

"I told him what you said!" Rogue put his hands up in defense and backed a step away from Yukino. He didn't feel like getting in the middle of one of their arguments. Yukino was not scared to go at it with either twin dragon.

"I don't see what the big deal is, Lu-chan said she was fine," Lector complained.

Sting zeroed in on his exceed friend, "You will tell me everything, Lector!" When Rogue had called on Sting's communication lacrima and told him Lucy wasn't in Magnolia and she was currently being held somewhere, he couldn't help the utter exasperation and slight panic he had felt.

Even with Lucy doing her utmost to keep him, Rogue, and the rest of Sabertooth at arm's length, he hadn't been able to stop himself from getting attached to the girl. He knew she was in pain. That fact radiated off of her in waves even as she smiled at everyone around her. He wanted to help her, but knew it wasn't the right time yet. He had to earn a spot in her world before she would open up to him. After the events at Fairy Tail, however, Sting was more than peeved that Lector and Frosch seemed to have more of a relationship with their new Celestial mage than he did. He was guild master, after all. She should come to him first.

Lector scoffed at Sting, "I just told you. Lucy said she was fine and not in danger."

"He's right Sting, Lucy did say she would meet us at the guild later. She wasn't hurt when I saw her on the lacrima," Yukino added.

"Then why did you say she was being 'held' somewhere?" Sting demanded again turning to Yukino to stare down the silver haired girl.

"Because she is! I asked her where she was and she said she couldn't tell me because she didn't know," Yukino answered forcefully. She stomped her foot, getting aggravated at Sting's aggression.

"Rogue said you sounded a panicked when you called him, why?"

"Because I thought she might be lying," Yukino answered honestly. Her voice dropped to a whisper as she looked down at her feet. Sting's posture changed, understanding Yukino's distress. Neither of them had pegged Lucy as the type to lie, and neither believed she was truely lying to them about what had happened to force her to run away from Fairy Tail, but it was obvious that she was never revealing anything close to the whole truth.

"Do you think we need to go after her, Yukino?" Rogue asked quietly, unsettled by the uncertainty of what to do.

"She'd be mad if we did," Yukino replied. "She would think we didn't trust her or find her to be a capable mage. But if we don't…" Yukino huffed. Why did this have to become so complicated. They were all aware that Lucy's emotions were unstable and the wrong move from anyone would mean they would lose her too.

The three Sabers locked eyes with each other. "We have to have faith in her. We have to trust that if she needs us she will ask for us," Sting said, trying to sound authoritative instead of insecure. "I will update Orga." Sting took a few steps away to call the Lightning God Slayer and tell him to be on the lookout for Lucy.

Rogue and Yukino exchanged glances while Sting's back was turned. Both displayed their doubts, but it was Yukino or shook her head to discourage Rogue from sliding into his shadows to find their blonde friend. Even since the Eclipse Gate incident, Rogue had felt a certain responsibility to the brown eyed beauty. He knew that she never blamed him for what his future self did, but he felt a deep need to make it up to her. Yukino knew that when it came to Lucy being in potential danger, Rogue would be the first to jump into action for this reason. She could see the strain in the set of his jaw as he forced himself to stay put.

As Sting ended his call with Orga, the train to Clover pulled into the station platform. Sting and Rogue groaned at the sight of the metal death trap. Sting's face turned green and he heaved, whereas Rogue made a valiant effort to remain stoic. Yukino shook her head and hopped onto the train with Frosch still wrapped in her arms while Lector attempted to give Sting a pep-talk.

"Sting, you are the best there is, no silly train can take you down! Let's go!"

* * *

Gray sat on top of Natsu's unconscious form in his boxers sneering. Now that the flame headed idiot was out of the way he was ready to figure out what the hell had been going on in his guild. He hadn't been here all that much since the war. He split his time between going on dates with his girlfriend and taking jobs. Right now he felt like a rug had been pulled out from under him and he was having a hard time wrapping his brain around the information.

Thankfully, the fire-head went down close to the bar, so now he was sitting in close proximity to Mira, Erza, Jellal, Levy, Lisanna, Gajeel, and Happy. Master Makarov had disappeared back into his office, which was strange given the events of the day. Laxus had zapped his way to who-knows-where. The rest of the guild had gone back to chatting quietly. QUIETLY!

"Mira, what is going on here? Why is the guild so… weird?" Gray asked.

"Weird? How do you mean Gray?"

"It's quite. No one is partying. No one is drinking. No one is fighting. Where is Cana?" Gray started listed everything he was observing. "And ever weirder, where is Lucy?"

"Hmm," Mira hummed and studied the guild. The changes had been so subtle she had hardly paid much attention to it, but now that Gray pointed it out, the guild was different. There were long shadows on the walls. Teams were keeping to themselves and quietly chatting. No guild brawls were breaking out. In fact now that she really concentrated on it, today was the first guild brawl that had happened in, well, a long time.

Erza had turned to observe the guild with Mira. "It is strange," she commented. "It is almost like waking up to a whole new guild."

"Master Makarov seems pretty indifferent towards all of this," Jellal added in. His eyes were locked on the Master's office door, wondering why the man seemed to be locking himself away.

"I know what you mean. Natsu and I have barely stepped foot in here for months unless we needed a new job. I didn't realize how different things were until now," Happy spoke quietly. His paw rested on his check and his eyes shone with worry. "Do you think this has something to do with Natsu not remembering Lucy?"

"Yeah, what's that all about anyway," Gray snarked. "I know he's an idiot, but he has been head over heels for Lucy since Tenrou."

Lisanna piped up, "What do you mean he doesn't remember Lucy?" She had just gotten to the guild after doing a job with Bickslow. When she saw the crowd hovering at the bar, she decided to join them.

"I confronted him on the way back from our last job. This was yesterday," Happy started. "Ever since the war, it seemed like Natsu had been avoiding Lucy, so I wanted to know why."

"You mean all this time…" Erza started. Her face was filled with shame. Happy just nodded.

"We haven't been to her apartment, or even seen her at the guild since before Acnologia fell. Natsu hasn't even mentioned her name in all that time. I knew something had to be wrong because he wouldn't shut up about her when we left after Tartarus." Happy had everyone's attention now. He was kind of reveling in it, even though the topic was so serious. Hardly ever had he made everyone hang on his every word like this.

"Seriously! No way," Gray said. Juvia walked over and handed him a pile of clothing, which he accepted with a slight blush on his face. He could always trust that Juvia would find his missing clothes, she had some kind of sixth sense for it. Gray was not nearly as fast getting dressed as he was getting undressed. He finished buttoning up his shirt and took a seat at the bar, leaving the flaming moron to his snoring on the floor.

"Anyway," Happy couldn't help but say a bit louder than necessary to divert attention back to himself. The others had started murmuring in disbelief at his last comments, and now he needed them to focus again.

"So I asked him why he wasn't bringing Lucy on our jobs anymore and he had to stop and THINK to figure out who I was talking about. THEN he claimed that he and I never had any partners! I asked about what he remembered about our first mission with Lucy and he remembered everything except that she was on it and what she did."

"That is certainly odd," was Jellal's thoughts. His face was a mask of indifference, but it was easy to tell he was just as curious about the situation as everyone else.

Mira added, "When he got back to the guild he thought Happy was the one with a memory problem and couldn't understand what Happy's obsession with Lucy was. I asked him what he remembered of the Phantom Lord incident since he had been the one to rescue Lucy both times she was taken. He said he couldn't remember Lucy being in the guild at the time."

Levy's eyes were wide as she turned to Lisanna. Their gazes met as a certain amount of understanding dawned on them. "Oh my, do you think that is why she wants to leave Fairy Tail?"

"I'm sure of it!" Lisanna responded.

"What?" Gray wanted to shout at the two, "What do you mean leave Fairy Tail?"

Again, Lisanna and Levy made eye contact. They seemed to be having a silent argument, but no one was sure what it was about.

"You will tell us what you know!" Erza glared at the two girls, a black aura surrounded the mage in her anger at herself and the situation.

The girls quickly glanced at each other again, it seemed like Lisanna had lost the argument and was nominated spokeswoman. "Well, Levy and I caught Lu-chan leaving on a solo job that was meant for a team to do. We asked her why she wasn't taking any of you with her, but she just said you guys were busy and she needed rent money. It was decided that I would go with her instead."

"The next time it happened, Team Shadowgear stopped her from leaving alone. We knew that the job was just to big for her to do alone," Levy added. "But when we went on the mission together, she did all the work before we could even get a chance to jump in. We had an argument that day. I had never seen her so mad."

"What did you guys fight about," Gajeel wondered. Levy hadn't told him this part before.

"I promised I wouldn't say…"

"Levy! Just tell them what you know," Lisanna sighed.

"She didn't want me to come on jobs with her anymore. When I asked why, she said she could handle them alone and didn't need a team."

"But she always wanted to be on a team before, right?" Happy questioned.

"There were a few times when she seemed unsure she fit in with out team," Erza remembered. "Like after Phantom Lord, she wasn't sure if we'd want someone like her on the team."

"Aye, I remember that," Happy said.

"Well, when we fought about it, I couldn't help but think something happened to Team Natsu," Levy continued. "She'd never been a solo wizard, so it didn't make sense that she'd continue to go off on her own, especially on such dangerous jobs!"

"What did Love-Rival say?"

"She went on about how nobody wanted her on the team anymore and she needed to go alone so she could prove she could do things without messing them up. She went on a rant about how people were always telling her jobs were too dangerous. She seemed to think no one in Fairy Tail thought her capable."

"You think Flame-Brain said something Bunny-Girl? Maybe the moron is just faking this shit."

"Natsu?" Lasanna questioned. "He isn't capable of being cruel to nakama!"

"I feel like I am to blame," Erza said. "You may strike me for my offense."

"What are you saying Erza?" Gray half shouted. "Did you tell Lucy she those things?"

"I may have told her a job was too dangerous for her, yes. When we came back from the job it may have come to light that the job was fairly simple and Lucy found out." Erza was looking rather ashamed of herself.

"That's shitty of you," Gajeel commented, getting a sharp elbow to his ribs from Levy. "Ow, what was that for? It was a shitty thing to do."

"She feels bad enough. You don't need to rub it in!" Levy scoffed. "Anyway, I don't think what Erza did was the only thing going on."

"How do you know?" Lisanna asked.

Levy just shrugged. "Lu-chan is one of my best friends. The fact that we were fighting at all didn't make sense. None of it did. It just seems like something more is going on. Anyway, all this leads to Lucy and I making a deal. I would stop interrupting her solo jobs if she promised to hang out with me and the girls on fridays. I wanted to keep and eye on her."

"We invited Juvia, Erza, Cana, and Ever to join just," Lisanna added in, "but none of you ever came."

"Do you think she knows about Natsu's memory issue?" Jellal asked.

"She never mentioned, but now that we know about it, she must have. She loved Natsu. Imagine finding out the person you love has forgotten everything that had ever happened between the two of them." Levy wondered how'd she would react if Gajeel forgot her the same way Natsu forgot Lucy.

"What does this have to do with leaving Fairy Tail," Erza questioned. She was eager for them to get to the point.

Lisanna took the lead, "One friday she told us that she thought it was time to move on from Fairy Tail. She said that since her team broke up and it seemed like no one else in the guild really wanted her there, that she was thinking about joining Sabertooth."

"Yeah, the next thing we know, Sting is dragging her back here and into Makarov's office. We didn't know what all happened, but Lucy told us the following Friday that she was going to be in both guilds for awhile. We were just glad that she didn't seem to be leaving Fairy Tail all together."

"I don't get it," Gray interjected. "It isn't like Lucy to give up or run away. Why didn't she tell us about Natsu's memory if she knew? We would have helped him get it back."

"Maybe she tried," Erza said.

"Wait, did she say something to you?" Gray asked.

"For the first month. Every chance she got she would approach me and ask if I wanted to go on a job or if I wanted to hang out and catch up." Erza was feeling rather pitiful, "I rejected every attempt she made."

Gray looked at Erza in surprise, "Why? Why would you reject her so many times?"

"I just got Jellal back in my life! I wanted, no I needed, time with just him and I," Erza defended her choices despite knowing it was a bullshit reason for leaving her friend out in the cold. "I should have realized something was wrong when she stopped approaching me. But I didn't even notice she stopped until now."

"Erza, we have the rest of our lives together. It is so unlike you to not spare time for a friend." The scarlet haired requip mage lowered her head in regret.

"What about you Gray-sama?" Juvia wondered. "Did Love-Rival approach Gray-sama?"

Gray scratched at the back of his head in thought, "Yeah, I guess she did."

"What did Gray-sama say to Love-Rival?"

Gray took a deep breath. He didn't want to admit this to anyone, especially not Juvia. "I… I … I told her I couldn't hang out with her anymore because I didn't want Juvia to get jealous." The words came out in a rush and when they all left his mouth there was an angry hush among their friends.

"Well shit." Gajeel wasn't scared to break that silence.

Juvia smacked Gray upside the head and shrieked, "Gray-sama said what?"

"Hey! Come on, now! You call Lucy Love-Rival! I didn't want you to feel like you had competition," Gray raised his hands trying to block the onslaught of smacks.

"Juvia is confident enough in herself and in Gray-sama to know there would be nothing to be jealous of after Gray-sama picked Juvia!"

"Ow! Okay! Stop it! I fucked up! I get it. Ow!"

"So Natsu forgets her, Erza rejects her, Gray defriends her… Anything else happen to Bunny-Girl?" Gajeel asks, ignoring Juvia and Gray's continued squabble.

Mira shook her head, "I don't think I did anything like that. I signed her up for the jobs she chose and helped send her rent money in to her landlord at the end of every month since she was at Sabertooth during that time."

"This is all great to find out, guys," Happy said. He wanted the attention back on him. "But where is Lucy now? And how do we fix Natsu?"


	13. Chapter 13

When Lucy felt together enough to uncurl her body from Loke's lap, she found her body stiff from her muscles clenching as she had sobbed. No one had said anything more as she had cried her heart out, which made her relieved. She didn't think she was up for anymore discussion on this topic. She was ready to leave. With or without her keys.

Slowly Lucy reached out her hand out to Zeref. Her eyes met his and she begged silently for her friends back. His eyes were still crimson, a show that his anger had not yet subsided. Despite his eyes holding onto the edge of his rage, his face was soft as he reached into his pocket and lifted out her keys. He placed them in her palm, nodding his head as if to assure that she was free to leave.

Lucy let out the breath she had been holding. She didn't bother looking over at Mavis, before locking eyes with Loke. He understood his mistresses silent plea and took his suit coat off to cover Lucy's shoulders before taking her with him through his gate and into the Celestial world.

They appeared in Loke's home in the Celestial world. He had considered her state of mind and decided that popping her into his bedroom like he usually would was probably not the best idea. So, instead, he landed them in his living room. Plush,gold carpeting lined the floors while royal red furniture decorated the room artfully. The walls were painted a pale shade of orange. The room gave off the light of Loke's regulus and the air of royalty. Yet, the softness of the cushioning on the sofa made the room feel like home to Lucy and she reveled in the comfort.

"Loke," Lucy whispered.

The lion spirit looked down at the woman in his arms. She was so broken and it pained him at how long she had held it all in. "Yes princess?"

"Thank you for staying with me."

"I told you I would never leave you and I meant it, princess."

Lucy shifted her weight so that she could step out of Loke's arms. Should found her feet slightly unstable when they touched the ground, but she managed to keep her balance. She wiggled her toes into the plush carpeting, they had left without her shoes. Staring down at her feet Lucy said, "When you are ready, I would like to go to my apartment in Magnolia. I'm going to finish packing up my stuff."

Loke's eyes went wide, "You're really going to leave Fairy Tail?"

Lucy nodded. "This time I am not going to allow Gramps to stand in my way. I need to move on." Lucy looked down in shame, "Loke, you don't have to leave the guild. If you want to stay with Fairy Tail, I understand. They were your family long before I came along."

"Stop trying to push me away!" Loke shouted, his temper getting the better of him. He took a calming breath. "I love Fairy Tail and it will make me sad to see my friends less often. But I made a promise to the Spirit King, you, and myself that I would not leave your side for as long as you live."

Lucy wanted to cry at his loyalty but found that her eyes were impossibly dry. She really didn't have any tears left. "I'm sorry Loke. I wasn't strong enough to stay for you."

"Lucy." Loke wrapped his arms back around his princess. "You have always been strong enough for me, and I will stay by your side."

His words did not ease her guilt, however. It made her feel worse if anything. He was willing to give up so much for her. What had she possibly done to warrant such loyalty from her lion? He mind flashed to her fight with Natsu. She had thought Natsu felt this same sort of loyalty towards her. After everything that they had done together. The times he saved her and she saved him.. She still couldn't understand how he could have led her on for so long. She couldn't help the fear and anxiety the crawled through her as she wondered if Loke's loyalty to her was the same as Natsu's. An obligation out of guilt. It felt that way. All of her relationships felt that way. God, why was she so useless at everything.

"Hime-sama," Virgo came through the door that separated Loke's living space from the hallway leading to the rest of his manor. "I have take the liberty of taking the last of the packing materials you bought to your Magnolia residence. Should I help you pack your things?"

"Oh Virgo! Thank you for your help, but you don't need to help me. I don't want to take up your time like that."

"It's no problem, Hime-sama."

"Take me home?" Lucy asked quietly. It felt weird requesting that. Her apartment in Magnolia had not felt like her home in a long time, and soon it wouldn't be anything more than a memory. Loke's warm light engulfed Lucy again and a moment later there were in her apartment. There wasn't much left for her to pack, maybe three boxes worth. Her bathroom essentials, her bedding, and the clothes she left here for the weeks she spend at Fairy Tail. All her decorations, books, manuscripts, photos, and personal items had already been moved in total to her Sabertooth guild apartment.

A moment after she and Loke appeared, Virgo's shimmering light appeared as the maid spirit opened her gate. "Punishment, Hime-sama?"

"No Virgo. Thank you for your help and company."

"Well, let's get you ready to go," Loke clapped his hands together and then started rolling up the sleeves of his button down.

Lucy smiled at his attempt to be gung-ho and shook her head at his antics. She bent to pick up a box and started folding it into shape. "Can you get the box tape ready, Loke?"

"Sure thing," He grabbed the new tape roll and after some mild swearing got it situated into the tape dispenser. Virgo had left the room and came back with an arm full of Lucy's clothes.

"Thank you guys."

Soon the remainder of her stuff was packed snuggly into the boxes Virgo had provided and Lucy was ready to head to Fairy Tail one last time. She would need Gramps to remove her guild mark and she wanted to let Levy and Lisanna know what she was doing. They deserved to hear from her rather than finding out when they found her apartment empty.

"You guys can go back now, if you want. I am going to head to Fairy Tail and have my mark removed." Lucy looked down at her back of her hand sadly. For so long she had worn the symbol of Fairy Tail with pride. Now she just wanted the mark off of her skin. If Master wasn't willing to remove it, then she would do it herself. The only reason she hadn't was because she wanted to say a proper goodbye to the man who had taken her in despite her shortcomings.

Loke and Virgo closed their gates and left Lucy to do what she needed to. Virgo had taken the boxes to the Celestial world for holding. Lucy took a deep breath and headed down to her landlord's apartment to turn in her key and to give her final payment. She was breaking her lease agreement earlier than she expected and still needed to pay the last month's worth of rent.

Her demon of a landlady didn't come to the door, so Lucy left her key and money in an envelope that she unceremoniously stuffed into the appropriate mailbox. Good riddance. It was time to head to the guild. Lucy walked along the canal. She would miss this. She waved to the men fishing in their boat. This might be one of the last times she waved at them. After all this time she never had learned their names. She kind of felt bad about that.

The guild was in front of her now. She had a mixed bag of emotions as she pushed the doors open quietly. She didn't want to draw attention to herself, although she was certain that no one would notice her even if she kicked the doors in. Not a single person turned to see who had entered the guild. The place that once rejoiced in the return of any guild member no matter how long their absence was now indifferent to her.

Lucy's eyes scanned the guildhall searching out Levy and Lisanna. She spotted them near the bar with her old team. Happy was there, which meant Natsu was back from his last job early. She could see the fire mage, however, which made her relax a part of her that she hadn't realized was tense. The girls hadn't seen her yet, and she didn't want to confront them until after she had spoken to Makarov. She traveled to the masters office without anyone taking note of her. She was relieved that her apparent invisibility inside the guild was on her side today.

She knocked on his office door and entered after she heard his acknowledgement. "Master," she greated softly.

"Ah, Lucy my dear. Your Sabertooth team stopped by looking for you, I suggest you contact them so they don't tear my town a part."

"Heh, yeah. I already let them know I was okay."

"Good. Now what brings you to my office?"

"It's time, Master," Lucy said as she hid her face with her bangs. "I'm ready to leave the guild. You told me to think about it and to not make a rash decision."

The old man behind the desk blinks at his child before him. He thought for sure that her time in Fairy Tail, those experiences and bonds, would win out over her desire to run from whatever burden she was carrying. The surprise at her final decision left him teetering on the edge of an emotion he couldn't identify. Something bordering on grief, anger, and failure. Sting hadn't been far off in his assumption that Makarov would hold the girl here. She couldn't leave the guild, so much had changed already due to her absence, if she were to leave completely… Makarov shuddered. What could he do?

"Lucy, if you leave Fairy Tail…"

"No, please! I've made up my mind. There just isn't anything here for me anymore."

"Does this have to do with Natsu losing his memories? Why aren't you fighting to get them back! You can't leave the guild like this. We're not complete with you gone." His last words brought tears to his eyes.

Lucy shook her head in defiance of what he was saying. "The guild was here long before I came along and it will remain long after I'm gone."

"What about Natsu's memories? You need to help him get…"

"NO!" Lucy was breathing heavily.

"What?" the old master shouted. "He is your partner! Your nakama!"

"You don't understand and I don't have to explain myself to you," Lucy spoke softly in return, not wanting to raise her voice at the man. None of this was his fault. "Remove the mark. Please. I just came to say goodbye."

"You're right, I don't understand! So tell me what is going on so that I do," the old man pleaded.

Lucy didn't want to fight with him. She also didn't want to have this conversation again. She said her sins out loud once already today, she couldn't bare to do it again. "Master Makarov, please," Lucy begged. "I don't want to fight with you. Everything is how it should be. Just let me go."

"How can you say that!"

"I came to have you remove my mark as a courtesy because I respect you and wanted to say goodbye. But if you are going to refuse, then I will remove it for you," Lucy stated, losing her patience. She raised her hand to show the guild master as she concentrated on her magic to remove the mark. The mark evaporated from her skin in a sheen of silver sparkles.

"It's done." Lucy bowed in respect to the Master of Fairy Tail. "Thank you for all that you have done for me, I will always hold you and the times I spent at Fairy Tail in my heart."

Makarov sat in awe. This was it. She was no longer a member. Before he could think up something to say or yell, Lucy had turned and exited his office.

Lucy was down the stairs and heading to the bar to talk to Levy and Lisanna when she noticed the splash of pink on the floor beside her two friends. Natsu was... sleeping? She didn't want to get any closer, she didn't think she could handle it. Lucy waved her hand trying to grab the attention of the two girls. Sadly it was Gajeel who noticed her first.

"Oi! Bunny-girl, where have ya been?"

"Oh, uh, nowhere important." Lucy attempted a smile. "Hey Levy, Lisanna, can I talk to you guys?" Without thinking about it, Lucy covered her mouth with her right hand as she tried to cover how fake her smile looked.

"Lucy, your guild mark!" Erza shouted.

Natsu sat up from the floor, "Man, what is that smell? Smells familiar."

In the moment the group at the bar took to change focus to the dragon slayer waking on the floor, Lucy attempted for a clean getaway. She was stopped in her tracks however by Natsu yelling, "Hey wait, you're that Lucy chick!"


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: First, I want to thank everyone who had read and commented on this story! It means so much to me to hear from people who read what I write, so THANKS! Second, I was asked about my update schedule. I don't really have one. I am trying to update during the week as often as I can. I will probably not updated on weekends because I am usually tied up with family stuffs. Third, Keep commenting! I really do love to hear from you!**

* * *

"What a load of crap!" Sting complained loudly. "There was only two forest Vulcans, hardly worth our skills."

"Yeah! The great Sting should only be called on for REAL monsters!" Lector chimed in, giving his friend a unneeded ego boost.

"T'sk," was all Rogue managed to say. He wanted to argue that Sting wasn't doing a very good job in emulating Fairy Tail if he was going to constantly play his "holier than thou" card. The shadow mage, however, was no in the mood for the fist fight that would ensue upon bring it up. Plus, after what they saw at the Fairy guild earlier, he thought that perhaps emulating their past idols was no longer the best course of action.

"Fro thinks so too!" The pink frog exceed toddled along looking pleased. Rogue was certain the little exceed was just happy about the success of the mission more than anything else. The little exceed was a great companion but had little sense.

"I hope Lu-chan is still okay," Yukino was still worried about her friend. She believed in the Celestial Mage's capabilities, but it was hard to feel so in the dark about what might be happening to her friend. "I hope she is at the guild waiting for us."

Rogue nodded his head in agreement. "I know we said that we would believe in her to be okay, but it doesn't stop me from being concerned. I know that wherever she is being held isn't the problem. I worry about her staying at Fairy Tail."

"I have been thinking the same thing. When we see her, I'll talk to her about joining Sabertooth full time. I think she needs to get away from whatever is happening in that guild. It isn't good for her to be in such a dark place." Sting sounded mature for once.

Yukino knew that this seriousness was because the guild master had developed a soft spot for the mysteriously closed off blonde woman. She smiled at the thought of the two of them being together someday. Now that Natsu seemed to be out of the picture in Lucy's world, perhaps Sting would be able to find a place with their new friend. Yukino glanced at Rogue. Perhaps as Sting moved forward in his feelings for Lucy, she would be able to convince the stoic man to step into her light once in while.

"Have you checked in with Orga to see if Lucy's at the guild yet?" Rogue asked.

"Nah, he said he'd contact me if she showed up." Sting sounded rather nonchalant, but Rogue noticed that the white mage absently reach for his pack where his lacrima was located. The young guild master was exhibiting a subtle anxiety over their blonde friend, which Rogue found interesting.

The trio was soon reaching the train station and hoped to gain a ticket back to Crocus before night the next day. The Sabertooth guild hall was located on the outskirts of the capital in a suburb closer to the mountains. After the train, they would need to rent a magic vehicle or a carriage to get them to the guild hall, which would be a few hours walk on foot. One of the improvements Sting was working on as a budding guild master was a more permanent transportation solutions for the mages of his guild to use between the guild and the train station. It was always a pain to find a rental business that was open in the wee hours of the night and often meant that mages and teams were stranded an extra day in the city limits, not wanting to walk through the night.

"The train will be going through Magnolia. Should we stop and check to see if Lucy is back yet?" Yukino wondered.

"She said she'd meet us at the guild," Lector retorted. "She'll get there when she's ready."

* * *

Mavis was worried about Zeref. He hadn't moved much since Lucy stepped through Leo's gate. The fact that Lucy was allowed to move though Leo's gate was something of a fascination to the illusionist, but was not a priority for her to ponder over at the moment. No, her priority was to figure out why Zeref's eyes were still red and if she was going to have to divert a major world crisis because of it.

"Love," Mavis said, placing a hand over his clenched fist, which still rested on the table. "Zeref," she said a little louder after getting no response to her first call. The man seemed frozen. While Mavis agreed that what Lucy revealed was rather shocking, the idea that Natsu could say something so cruel to the woman he pined for was rather odd, she was surprised by how deeply it was affecting her lover.

"He obviously was just trying to keep her safe, right?" Zeref suddenly questioned. "I mean, he didn't really hate her all this time. I couldn't have been that wrong in my observations." Zeref looked up at Mavis and silently begged her to confirm his words. But then his anger seemed to rise out of nowhere, "What right did she have to change a thing! Now he can never explain himself, and this thing between them can never be fixed!"

"I can't say I blame her," Mavis said calmly. She squeezed Zeref's hand trying to bring him back out of his momentary rage.

"WHAT?" He stood and glared down at the tiny woman. "He hurt her feelings so what, she can just re-write his life?"

"She didn't rewrite all that much, really. Just the parts with her in it. Natsu is still Natsu."

"Pff't," Zeref pushed away from the table, his hand dragging down his face as he turned away from Mavis.

"That's not the point. She ran away."

"There is only so much someone can take. You know her past better than most. You followed her family line to ensure the Eclipse project happened without a hitch."

"Only until Layla opened the gate."

"Hah! We both know that's not true. You were fascinated with the Heartfillia Line and you vaguely kept tabs on Lucy because of that. Don't lie."

"Fine. But really… daddy didn't like her, boo hoo!"

"Zeref! You know it was more than that."

Zeref crossed his arms and looked away, pouting. He didn't want to admit that perhaps that girl had a bit of a rough life, but was it really enough to justify giving up on Natsu the way she did. "Damnit! She just gave up!"

"She saved his life. I wouldn't call that giving up. Despite everything Natsu said, she still saved him. Then she gave him the peace he'd asked for."

"He didn't ask to forget her. He probably didn't really want to be rid of her at all!"

"You are making assumptions about Natsu's feelings, love. We don't know what he wanted or what he was thinking."

"We need to make him remember," Zeref's eyes were no longer red, his anger subsided into a new emotion. "And if he can't remember, we are going to find a way to get them back together. I didn't fail at destroying the world just for my brother to end up unhappy."

"What if he is happy."

"He can never be happy with his soulmate missing."

"Soulmate?" Mavis hummed. "I tend to forget just how romantic you are at heart."

There was a lull in their conversation. Mavis hummed to herself and imagined how nice it would be to for things to work out in Lucy's favor. If only she could convince the girl to not leave Fairy Tail in the process. The darkness seeping in with her absence was already concerning. Perhaps she should check on things now that Lucy was free to return.

Mavis blinked. This time she brought Zeref with her. They both appeared in the guild with an illusion covering them. They were faceless members of the guild, appearing in a dark corner. No one noticed their appearance, the guild was too enraptured in the moment taking place between Lucy and the group of mages crowded around the bar.

* * *

Natsu was standing now, his nose twitching at the scent coming from the girl he could of sworn he never spent even a day with, yet the feeling of her presence was oddly calming. It was like he found something he didn't realize he was looking for. Without too much thought and ignoring the noise, or lack thereof, in the guild, he made his way to the retreating figure of the curvy blonde.

He couldn't tell if he wanted to fight her or… something else. Her back was to him, but she hadn't moved to leave since he called out to her. Her aroma encircled him, the closer he got to her form. The soap she used smelled like wildflowers, yet her underlying scent was more like a feeling than an actual smell. She felt like the night sky. Was that even a thing? He had never felt a smell before.

Natsu had the urge to reach out and touch her. He wanted to feel the silk of her hair, and for a moment he had a feeling of hand running through his locks. The disconcerting feeling made him pause. What was that? His hand was involuntarily reaching for her. He could feel her magic pulse briefly, as if it was reaching out to him. His own seemed to flare in response, causing a pocket of heat to form around him.

Before Natsu got the chance to pull the girl around to face him, his blue, furry companion flew past him in tears yelling "LUUUUSHIIIEEE!"

The girl turned. She at first looked surprised to see Natsu so close to her, but then her attention was quickly diverted to the small winged feline smacking into her breasts. Her eye quickly diverted from Natsu and focused on the cat. "Hi Happy," Lucy spoke softly as she wrapped her arms around the crying cat.

Natsu found himself momentary trapped in her brown eyes. He had a feeling of nostalgia, but couldn't figure out why. The girl's eyes were flat and dull, and if felt wrong to him. Her face was pale, bags under her eyes with dark circles surrounding them. She looked ill. The picture of her he could pull from his memory, when she was on the S Class Trial with Cana, showed a bubbly, vibrant girl. But this person in front of him just felt… wrong.

"I missed you and Natsu is being dumb and says we were never partners and now you're leaving us and I don't want you to gooooooo!" Happy's muffled complaints made Lucy's heart hurt. She hadn't meant to hurt the furball.

"I'm sorry Happy," Lucy's voice trembled slightly. "You are welcome to visit me at Sabertooth whenever you are near Crocus." She smiled gently and the little exceed's face brightened.

"Will I be able to bring Charla with me?"

Lucy's smile widened for a fraction of a second before it fell away. "Anyone you want, Happy."

The little exceed seemed to be reassured at her words and floated up into the air after activating his wings. Lucy was trying to back away from the group as Happy flew to block Natsu's view, whispering loudly to his friend about something she couldn't quite hear. She was stopped, however, when she ran into Bickslow's strong chest. He had this helmet off, something he had been more inclined to do inside the guild since the end of the Grand Magic Games. His totems were buzzing wildly around his head as they chanted "Cosplayer, Cosplayer!"

Instead of the usual tongue wagging laughter emanating from the tall Seith Mage, Lucy was faced with the glowing eyes of a very serious man. "What's happened to you Cosplay girl? Your souls all broken and cracked."

"Shh, Blickslow, not now," Lucy tried to silence the man before attention was drawn back to her. She should have known better. Lisanna and Levy were never going to let her go without a proper goodbye. She would have been fine if Natsu had still been out on his job with Happy like he was supposed to be.

"Oi, Cobra, are you hearing what I'm seeing over here?" Bickslow called over to the Poison Slayer, who had been hiding out in a corner of the guild with Meredy and Macbeth.

"She sounds like broken gears grinding on shards of glass. What the hell happened to Bright Eyes?" the generally grumpy tone of Cobra changing to one of angry concern as she shouted across the guild in response to his fellow soul reader.

Lucy glanced back at her friends, trying to tell them with her desperate look that they needed to help her get out of the guild. They both reacted, to her silent pleading, leaving Gray and Erza behind to try and to push their way past Natsu and Happy. They got trapped, however, in the argument between best friends when Natsu yelled loudly, "Tell 'im Levy! Just because she smells interesting does not mean I have lost memories or whatever!"

"She is your best friend Natsu!" Happy retorted, "Lisanna, help me out here."

Levy and Lisanna were exchanging glances as they tried to shrug off the onslaught of questions and statements being thrown between the friends. But everytime they gave a reply , they were pulled back in with either Natsu or Happy trying to drag them back into the argument.

"Eh, ah, ah Cosplay," Bickslow chided when she tried to duck under his arm. Out of instinct she reached for Loke's key, but it was gabbed out of her hands before she could call on him to gate jump with her. Cobra, of all people, had made his way across the guild and grabbed her precious escape plan from her fingers.

"There isn't any music playing anymore.. How long Bright Eyes?"

"The light is gone too," Bickslow commented under his breath. The Seith Mage glanced around the guild, finally noticing the deep shadows the lingered along the walls. When the guild had first started creating a soul link with Lucy, taking her moniker as the Light of Fairy Tail and making it a literal life line for the guild, Bickslow hadn't worried. He had watched as each member of the guild latched onto Lucy's soul as an actual beacon of light for the guild to follow and been astonished at how well the girl carried the load. He hadn't had the ability to check in on the fair maiden for months now, however, since she seemed to be gone more and more. Now that he finally had the chance, he was cringing at the obvious places where soul links had been yanked away leaving a broken mess behind inside Cosplay's soul. The light that used to shine brighter than the sun from within was now more like a cloudy day with a 100% chance of rain. The Light of Fairy Tail was almost completely out.

Lucy remained silent as she hopped trying to grab her key back from Cobra only to be thrown back from the man when a crack of lightning scorched the ground behind him and a glaring Laxus appeared.

"Gramps called and said you removed your guild mark, Blondie." Bickslow noticed that the soul link between Laxus and Cosplay was strained and ready to snap. He then glanced down at her hand and saw the pink symbol she used to hold up with pride was no longer there.

"I knew you couldn't be trusted with the guild," the towing man snarled while static jumped across his shoulders. He leaned down over Lucy as she struggled to get off the floor. "When you left to join Sabertooth, the old man should have let you. Pathetic."

Bickslow watched the soul link snap at Laxus's words. Lucy's pain, guilt, and sorrow flowed outwards like a tsunami. After that, it was like dominos falling as the rest of the guild murmured in agreement with Laxus and whatever remaining links there had been were snapping and pulling a part. It was so strange. The guild had never been so dead set on alienating someone before. Why now? Why her? As each link disappeared, the shadows in the guild grew longer and deeper.

"What the hell is happening here?" Cobra started. The surprise on his face from hearing the inner thoughts of the guild causing his one eye to pop. His hand that held Lucy's key fell to his side as he stood astonished at the whispers circling around him:

 _"She was never good enough to be a Fairy."_

 _"That weak bitch, has she ever even helped in a battle?"_

 _"Why'd we even let her in the guild?"_

 _"Make her leave, Laxus!"_

 _"She's not manly enough to stay here."_

 _"Look at her cowering on the floor, what a bimbo."_

While Cobra remained haunted by what was going on, and Bickslow worked on pulling Laxus away from her, Lucy shot off the ground, grabbed Loke's key, and disappeared though his gate before anything else could happen.

The sparkling light of her departure caused the murmuring in the guild to cease as mages just stared at her vacated spot. Bickslow pushed Laxus back one last time as Cobra gazed down at his empty hand wondering what had happened.

"Woah! Did ya see that Happy?!" Natsu exclaimed in the silence. "She had some cool magic, right?" Happy wanted to smack the idiotic Fire Dragon Slayer, who seemed completely oblivious to what else was happened around him.

"She's gone!" Erza whispered sadly as she dropped the front of Grays shirt. She had pulled him out of his seat earlier when Lucy was trying to escape to yell at him for making her want to leave. But now the fight flowed out of her light water leaking out of a spilled cup.

"When she learn to do that?" Gray wondered. Mad that there seemed to be so much about his friend he no longer knew.

It was at this time that Mavis felt she needed to intervene. The person who had made it possible for their guild to keep moving forward, who acted as the very soul of their doctrine, was now gone. The discord between members, the shadows creeping on the walls and making the light seem less effective, and the general hypocrisy she was witnessing seemed to be directly tied to the fall of Lucy.

Mavis grabbed onto Zeref's hand and the two walked to the center of the main group of mages who had confronted Lucy.

"Who the hell are you two?" Laxus spat. He was obviously not in the mood for any more happening today.

Mavis dropped her illusion and waited for the guild to react. Silence. Then chaos.


	15. Chapter 15

Lucy landed inside the magic circle she had painted onto the guild hall floor of Sabertooth. It was the only way to make using the gates for travel work. Technically, in order for a gate to be opened somewhere on Earthland, a Celestial Mage had to open it while in that location. Generally traveling between places was impossible unless Lucy had been there before and placed a location circle somewhere on the premises. The location circle allowed her to open a gate on Earthland in that location from the Celestial World.

At first, no one in Sabertooth's commons area noticed the appearance of the spirit mage. All it took for her to be suddenly greeted with loud hellos was Orga shouting, "Tiny, you made it!" overtop the normal din of the guild.

Lucy's first impression of Orga at the Grand Magic Games had been someone who was incredibly full of himself with little compassion for others. Now she would describe him as a gentle giant. He remained rather quiet unless provoked into grandstanding during a sparring match or battling during a mission. Hearing the big brute call to her from behind the bar made Lucy jolt from her shock, which in turn made the tears start to flow.

That hollowness was back, and the gravity of it had her wanting to collapse into herself as if her center was now a black hole. When Laxus had yelled at her in front of Fairy Tail she had felt like the remaining pieces of her had shattered and ripped a part. Her insides were bleeding and toxic as rough edges of her shattered heart stabbed into the broken gears of the music box her soul used to be. Natsu had been right. Nobody wanted her in Fairy Tail. Maybe no one ever had. Laxus had cemented this fact when he called her pathetic and untrustworthy.

Before the sob threatening to tear her a part could fall from her lips, her gentle giant was at her side wrapping her up in his strong embrace. Lucy buried her face into the casual green t-shirt Orga wore stretched over bulging muscle to muffle the sound of her pained cry.

Orga scooped up the relatively tiny mage and moved her to the library at the back of the room. He hoped he would find Rufus among the books to help him handle the crying girl. Strong emotions were not the Lightning God's forte, but Rufus was usually collected enough to be helpful. Hearing Lucy's muffle noises made the softy inside him want to cry right along with her, which was probably of little help.

The library was an open space line top to bottom with shelves of books. The ceiling was high and vaulted with skylights letting natural light fall softly over the area. Rufus was coming down off a ladder with a book in hand when he spotted the beefy Lightning God shuffle into the space.

"Memorized," came the cocky voice of the Memory-Make mage. "Orga, I don't think I have ever witnessed you looking so domestic before."

Orga snorted. Rufus was never truly and evil man, but he was an arrogant asshole no matter who was in charge of the guild or what changes were made. Orga was slightly regretting his decision to bring Tiny here, but he knew the man in the ridiculous feathered hat genuinely liked the newest addition to their guild. He would help.

"Tiny is broken, I need you to fix her," Orga stated blandly, trying to hold back his own emotional reaction. Why did seeing women cry make him cry? Why did that have to be a thing? He was supposed to be macho.

"Fix her?" Rufus looked closer at the mage curled up in Orga's arms. He could barely make out the sound of her sniffling. "What did you do to her?"

Orga rolled his eyes, "She came this way."

"Well set her down already, you brute, and let's find out what's wrong."

Orga repressed a growl at the Memory Mage, but complied to his demand. There were several soft-cushioned sofas scattered around the library area. Orga set the clingy mage down on the closest one. Lucy immediately curled into a ball, tucking her body into the corner between the armrest and back cushion. She hid her face with her hands as she continued to cry.

Lucy wanted to tell the men to just leave her be, that she would be fine, but she couldn't bare to talk, to move, to anything. Lucy could hear the scrapping of wooden chair legs rubbing against carpeting and knew that she was about to get grilled by the the red-suited butthead, which made her grumpy while wallowing in her pit of despair.

"So are you going to start talking on your own or should I begin with the basics?" Rufus asked blandly as he sat regally on the plain wooden chair he had dragged from a research table over to the sofa.

Lucy sniffled harshly as she attempted to slow her crying. She had saved herself from the embarrassment of the full ugly cry, but was still quietly gasping as she attempted to hold in her sobs. She hated that they were seeing her like this. She hated that she felt so broken. She was used to rejection. She felt it every day of her childhood from her own father, so why was this so painfully different?

"I guess I'll start then. Just nod your head for yes and shake it for no." Rufus continued impatiently. "First, uncover your face, please, Miss Heartfilia. We are your nakama, no need to hide."

Lucy grimmanced. The word "nakama" made her want to vomit, and all she wanted to do in this moment was hide. Hide in her guild apartment under the covers and disappear until she died or the ache in her chest went away, which ever happened first. Knowing that if she didn't move her hands on her own Rufus would do it for her, she reluctantly complied.

Orga handed her a tissue for the snot running from her nose and Lucy quietly thanked him. Her voice hardly more than a whisper.

"Good. Thank you dear." Rufus began, "Sting said you missed meeting them for a job. Does your sadness deal with why you missed the job?"

Lucy felt her answer would be too complex to answer with a head nod or shake. She guess that the events that were truly making her weep were not directly related to missing the job, so she shook her head no.

When Lucy's hands had covered her face, Rufus had noticed the discrepancy of his memory and her current state. She no longer held her Fairy Tail guild mark. "Is your sadness due to leaving the Fairy Tail guild?"

Lucy nodded.

"Was saying goodbye hard for you?" Rufus asked, sounding slightly less like and asshole and more like a concerned friend.

Lucy shook her head. The goodbye wasn't hard, she had been ready to leave. It was more of the method. It wouldn't have been the least bit eventful if attention had not been drawn to her by her old team. Then she wouldn't have had to listen to Natsu not know who she was, Bickslow and Cobra accuse her of being broken, or Laxus tell her she was pathetic.

Her gasping had settled and Lucy felt like she might be able to speak. "I was ready to leave Fairy Tail," she croaked.

"Then what happened?" Rufus was trying his best to sound gentle, but it still came off kind of snobbish.

Lucy was surprised with his effort and thankful he was trying. Sabertooth was not aware of her situation with Natsu other than their team had split. She wasn't sure if she wanted to open up about the whole memory thing, knowing now that it would just lead to the kind of questions she'd faced with Zeref and Mavis. She decided to leave that part out. Also, she decided that mentioning Bickslow and Cobra comments was unnecessary. That left what Laxus said.

"Laxus had some harsh parting words," Lucy said simply.

Rufus had studied her face as she contemplated what to say. It was interesting to watch as she carefully picked through her thoughts to choose what to share and what to discard. By her vague response, he determined there was quite a few things she was not saying.

"What did the wanna be god say now?" Orga growled. While the two lightning mages generally get along as rivals now, Orga always seemed to jump at opportunities to degrade the dragon slayer.

"He said I was pathetic," Lucy whispered.

"Are you going to tell us what else happened?" Rufus asked.

"What?" Lucy gasped softly.

"It isn't hard to notice that you are leaving a majority of your story out," Rufus said with a dull sort of cockiness that made Lucy want to scream. He acted like he knew her so well, but he didn't, none of them did. She wanted to yell and hit and scream for him to stop pretending and to leave her alone. At her small glare, Rufus barely contained his pleased smile. At least she wasn't sad anymore. He could handle 'mad' Lucy better than 'sad' Lucy.

"What else happened? Did those Fairies do something to you? I'll rip them all to shreds!" Orga grumbled as he started pacing in front of the sofa Lucy was tucked into.

Lucy's glare at Rufus hardened. "Now look what you did," she whisper shouted at the masquerading fool. Rufus hid his chuckle behind a well manicured hand. "Orrie-kun, it is really nothing! I swear. Sit with me, please?" Lucy said trying to placate the lumbering god slayer.

Her pet name for him was new, Orga realized. She was using it on purpose to distract him from his anger, he knew, and it worked. No one had nicknamed him anything besides 'brute' in the guild. There was a refreshing sort of familial feeling when he heard it. Like a little sister trying to calm her brother. It made him smile. Lucy smiled in return.

"Memorized," stated the Memory-Make mage. "The brute has been tamed. I will keep this memory for future purposes."

Orga bared his teeth at Rufus, threatening the mage, only for Rufus to grin mischievously. "Sting will be very interested in this new development," Rufus goated.

Orga scoffed and then laughed heartily, "That little lizard! Actually, please Rufus. Ruffling his boa is better entertainment than most comedies I've seen." He paused in his laughter, "Shit! Sting!"

Lucy looked between the two mages wondering what on earth Sting had to do with anything only to be nearly launched off the sofa in Orga's rush to stand and sprint back to the bar. "What bug crawled up his butt?" Lucy rasped incredulously as she settled back on the sofa.

"I believe he was to call Sting the moment you arrived at the guild," Rufus supplied. "Sting must have called here once every couple hours to check in on your whereabouts," he added.

"Why?" Lucy asked lost.

"You are a member of Sabertooth, no? He was simply concerned for his guildmate."

Lucy nodded vaguely. The hollowness in her chest was still there, but it felt less heavy now that her tears had calmed. She sighed loudly as she curled her legs up against her chest. The emotional output making her feel exhausted.

"Lucy, I know you are avoiding telling us some things now, but I want to assure you that when you are ready to talk, I'm ready to listen." His voice was soft and the cocky edge was gone for the first time in Lucy's memory.

"Thank you Rufus."

He nodded and then added, "I can't promise Master Sting will wait as patiently."

Lucy wrinkled her nose cutely and then snorted lightly. "I doubt that. The man is an idiot." Her comment made Rufus to make the most ungentlemanly noise as he guffawed at her assessment.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Sorry if I don't update as much this week. It is midterms at the College were I work and I am busy! I will do what I can!**

* * *

Natsu was walking aimlessly through Magnolia trying to relax after the chaos of the guild. Seeing Zeref alive as if their brutal war had never happened had caused unsettling feelings to stir within the fire mage. He could feel the demon in him rear its ugly head at the sight of his older brother's stupidly sad face.

Natsu kicked a loose rock and watched it skip and jump over the cobblestones. He was frustrated and found himself wishing to go back to the guild to punch the bastard in the face one more time.

…

 _"Zeref?!" Laxus eyes were wide as he recognized the wizard in front of him after Mavis dropped the illusion. Immediately the lightning mage was being held back by Bickslow who was sincerely concerned for his teammate's safety. The dragon slayer raged and pulled free from his comrade, lightening crackling around him as he sized up their old foe._

 _On the other side of the dark mage, Erza could be seen requiping into her purgatory armor, black wings sprouted from her back and a black ominous looking sword was gripped in her hand as she prepared to fight. Gray's Demon Slayer magic was activated and frost bit at the air around him as he too readied to step into battle. Meanwhile chairs and tables were scrapping loudly against wooden floorboards as Elfman, Evergreen, Jet, Droy, Laki, Meredy and others stood, quickly activating their magic to join whatever battle await them._

 _Natsu reacted before any other words could be spoken. He moved faster as his curse magic activated at the sight of it's creator. Levy and Lisanna were quickly knocked out of his path as his sprinted past them, small burns appearing on their arms from his flames. His fist drew back, covered in a mixture of deep red and orange flames, before striking the pale jaw of his older brother. Zeref's head moved with the force of the blow. The strength Natsu exerted on him would have snapped a lesser mage's neck, but Zeref stood relatively unfazed as his brought a thin, pale hand up to massaged the place he was struck._

 _"Not quite there yet, little brother," Zeref spoke softly. At his words, Natsu turned to strike him again only to find his fist bouncing uselessly off an invisible barrier. The barrier shimmered like liquid gold where Natsu had hit, but then disappeared again._

 _"You're a MONSTER!" Natsu yelled before rearing up to attack again._

 _"I'm sorry Natsu, but now is not the time to settle scores," Mavis spoke seriously._

 _"Why did you bring him here?" Natsu growled in anger. "Why do you protect him?" he yelled at Mavis._

 _"How is he even alive?" Laxus added angrily as he charged forward and slammed a fist against the golden barrier. "First Master!"_

 _"I ain't sitting here waiting for that bastard to kill us all," Gajeel yelled out as his fist shifted into an iron club and collided powerfully with the barrier Mavis held in place._

 _"Ice Devil's Zeroth Destruction Fist!" yelled Gray, covering his fists in sizable gauntlets and striking at the barrier in time with Gajeel's Iron Club._

 _Eza was no far behind as she struck the barrier with her sword. The barrier seemed to waver for a moment, but stayed in place even as more guild members came forward to have a go. Jellal crashed into with his using Meteor, Elfman transformed into his full body takeover: beast mode to strike hard at the barrier. Lightning shot down from above to hit the barrier, the remnants of static sizzling on the outer edges, making the barrier a swirling golden orb._

 _Mavis was losing her patience. She expected a poor welcome for Zeref, but had hoped that once she drew attention away from him to herself, they would at least calm down. They're incessant striking of her Fairy Sphere was annoying at best, and it was taking them too long to give up._

 _"MAKAROV! GET OUT HERE AND REIGN IN YOUR CHILDREN!" Mavis shouted, projecting her voice over the screaming of spells and the ricochete of them hitting the barrier. "WE NEED TO TALK!"_

 _The guild roared louder as Natsu yelled, "You leave Gramps out of this! I won't let that man near him!"_

 _"I am your brother, Natsu," Zeref was showing annoyance at Natsu's refusal of their familial ties. Lucy would have been able to smooth it over if she were here. If only they moved forward before she left through Leo's gate. If only they had gotten here before she removed the guild mark. Zeref glanced to the edges of the room and saw the shadow curl and stretch at they reached upwards towards the ceiling, slowly starting to block out the lights in the guild. The physical reaction to the guild's light leaving was slightly astonishing to the wizard. The shadows seemed to gain purchase the more the guild rioted and attached the Fairy Sphere._

 _Makarov's office door banged open. He had retreated there to shed tears in private over the loss of his child, and had done everything he could to ignore the chaos that was the guild hall. Yet he could not ignore the voice of First Master Mavis as it shook the building with power and made his heart squeeze in discomfort at the thought of the dead master being somewhere in his guild. If this day got any more troublesome he would probably have another heart attack. Porlyusica would have his head if his children didn't kill him first with their craziness._

 _He hopped onto the banister overlooking the first floor of the guild and felt his soul leave his body. Zeref. Mavis and Zeref. Alive. Why? Why him? This was it. He was retiring. He should have done it months ago. He wouldn't back down, no, but he wished it was Laxus standing in his spot. He was too old for this shit._

 _Makarov grew causing a menacing shadow to fall over his children as they pummled the Fairy Sphere barrier in place. "CHILDREN! YOU MUST STOP THIS ONSLAUGHT THIS MINUTE."_

 _"Are you blind old man!" Laxus yelled up at his grandfather, sparks flying off his shoulders in a show of anger._

 _Makarov stepped on Natsu who was preparing to attack the barrier again with his Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame attack and then turned back to Laxus, "First Master, founder of Fairy Tail, means us no harm. Stand down."_

 _There was a low rumbling growl emitted from the dragon slayers present. Even Natsu, from under the Master's foot, could be felt as his rage vibrated the ground around the guild. Makarov stomped on the petulant boy again, knocking him out cold._

…

When Natsu had come too, Mavis and Zeref were gone. The guild felt dark and quiet, and the wrongness of it had him restless. Mira was behind the bar, but her smile was gone. Erza and Jellal were sitting sipping quietly on amber liquid. Gray was missing from the guild with Juvia, so he couldn't even take out the restlessness he was feeling in his usual way. Happy was gone, and when he asked Mira she said he went after that Lucy chick who disappeared right before _He_ showed up.

He tried to barge into the Master's office to get answers, but found the stairway blocked by runes. They weren't Freed's runes, probably Levy's doing. Either way, they were strong enough he couldn't break them and get through without probably destroying the guild. Normally that wouldn't have stopped him, but he felt so unsettled he just couldn't muster the gumption to do it.

He kicked at another stone, stopping in his tracks. A feeling of home overwhelmed him. Nostalgia and an mix of nerves churned in his gut. He looked to his left at the simple brick apartment building and had an urge to jump up to the second story window on the left side of the building. He hadn't been on this street before that he could remember. Where even was he? He had been so absorbed in his thoughts he had wandered aimlessly.

The urge to jump turned into a compulsion. His feet carried him to the base of the building, readying to jump before he had made the conscience decision to do so. He stopped. What would he find if he made the jump? Why did he feel so at ease just looking up at the building. The earlier anxiety about the guild, Zeref, and the oddity of that girl unwound the more he stood there. He jumped up to the window, grasping onto the frame and peered inside.

The room he looked into was empty and that felt... wrong. He pushed, then pulled at the windows. _Shouldn't it be unlocked?_ Why would he think that? _What was this place?_ Natsu allowed his instincts to guild him. His fingers quickly felt along the side of the window, like they were searching for something. He felt a nub that he pushed on lightly and felt a small amount of magic release and a click sounded on the other side of the window. Now when he pulled on it, the window silently opened outwards. Natsu almost lost his balance as he tried to maneuver the window open, but muscle memory saved him from falling and he quickly entered the studio apartment.

A sudden flash of light behind his eyes made him cry out in pain as he gripped at his head. When he opened his eyes it was like he was seeing a image of the apartment superimposed over area he was looking. A desk with an inkwell, feather quill, a stack of papers, an ornate box with a lock up on a shelf above the desk. There were letters in that box… to her mother.

To whose mother?

He spun slowly. A bed under the window he entered through covered in a pink comforter. The most comfortable bed in the world. A old looking sofa kept in neat order, pink and blue throw pillows in each corner, with a coffee table set before it. A small dining table with four chairs and plate settings. A small kitchen area decorated with pink accents. A blue curtain covering the entrance to the bathroom.

He spun again, the overlay fading from his vision. What was that? Natsu took a deep breath trying to catch a scent that would identify the reason he was here.

Wildflowers and the night sky.

Lucy.

Confusion filled the fire dragon slayer. What was happening to him? She had just been a background guild member, right? He'd never worked with her before. Hardly spoke to her. She left the guild for good today, hadn't she? The thought of that twisted harshly in his gut, but he couldn't understand why. He didn't feel anything about it one way or another. She chose to move on from Fairy Tail. Guild members did that sort of thing all the time, especially the less loyal ones who were just looking for somewhere to get work from for awhile.

Why hadn't they given her a proper goodbye like they did for everyone else?

Natsu fell to his butt in the middle of the empty room. He breathed in the scent of Lucy and wondered if Happy had been right. Had he forgotten something about that girl?

* * *

Mavis and Zeref were now sitting comfortably in Makarov's office. After Natsu had been relieved of his consciousness, it was easier to get the rest of the guild to calm down. Laxus had taken a little bit of coaxing, but the lightning mage eventually obayed the Old Man in charge and settled into an irritated state that had him sitting in the corner of the office growling under his breath. Lightning still danced over his shoulders, but it was no longer striking out at random objects in the office. His glare was solely focused on the black haired man sitting calmly in front of his grandfather's desk.

The room was silent. Zeref was waiting for Mavis to take the lead, figuring things would go smoother if she were in charge of the conversation. Mavis was waiting for Makarov to say anything at all, knowing what his first question would be and wanting to get it out of the way so they could discuss the inevitable ruin of Fairy Tail if Lucy's place in it was not restored or replaced. Perhaps Lisanna could take back over the mantle. While the baby Strauss sister had never received the title, it was implied before she had disappeared.

As these thoughts swam through the heads of his guests, Makarov was fighting off the dizziness behind his eyes as his muscles clenched uncomfortably in his chest. He opened the desk drawer on the left side and grabbed the bottle of pills Porlyusica made for him. He swallowed the allotted amount and hoped for the best. He waited out his guests for another minute as the fast acting herbal remedy caused his body to relax.

"So," the master started. "What the hell is going on?" the anger he was feeling was evident in his voice.

"That's what I would like to know," Laxus chimed in. His voice sounding drawl, but the lightning on his skin danced exoticly before arching to a lighting rod sticking out of the wall behind the Master's desk.

"I am concerned…" Mavis began.

"How about we start with why you two are alive," Laxus interrupted.

Zeref turned a glare at the lightning mage, a warning to not interrupt again. Mavis, on the other hand, turned and smiled before restarting, "Oh, you're right. I guess I will start there." She paused smiling around the room and swinging her feet innocently before settling her gaze on Makarov. "That's simple. We don't know."

Makarov's eyes bugged in disbelief before he calmed and asked, "What do you know?"

"It has something to do with how the book of END was rewritten," Zeref supplied dryly. "Lucy di…"

"Blondie? T'ch. What's she got to do with this?" Laxus was angry with the Celestial Mage. He wasn't sure why exactly, but he had been feeling a sense of abandonment. A month after things settled down and she ran away. Then she barely ever shows to the guild. Something about her vanishing from sight made him agitated and restless anytime he came home from a job. He wasn't sure what to focus the anger on, or why it even bothered him that she wanted to leave so bad. At first he hadn't realized she was the cause, but as the weeks went by he noticed a pattern in his mood. The days she came into the guild were days he felt at ease, but when she was gone for weeks at a time he felt like some kid had come in and stolen the last piece out of his 2,000 piece puzzle and ran off with it. He noticed others in the guild reacting the same way. Today, when Gramps had called him and asked for him to try and stop Blondie from leaving for good, the built up frustration had exploded and he felt betrayed by the little blonde who would leave her family behind.

"If you would let me finish," Zeref glared, eyes flashing in annoyance, "then I will explain."

"T'ch."

"Please continue, Zeref," Makarov sighed. He had a feeling he was about to regret not locking Lucy up just to keep her here.

Zeref nodded appreciatively before continuing, "Like Mavis said, we don't really know what happened, but we are sure that it had to do with Lucy rewriting the book of END when she saved Natsu."

"What book?" Makarov queried. "Is that the one the Magic Council confiscated when Alvarez fell?"

"I guess Gemi-Mest did their job well," Mavis mused.

"I remember that book," Laxus intervened on behalf of his old man. "It was lost, or something right? Blondie had something to do with that thing?"

Zeref sighed, he felt tired. There was so much to explain. How much of their memories were manipulated? Lucy was a truly terrifying opponent when she had a plan.

"What do you know about the book of END?" Zeref directed at the two Deyers.

"It's the book that held the demon END," Laxus replied.

"Do you remember who END was?" Zeref prompted. He looked between Makarov and Laxus. Makarov seemed a bit lost, and Laxus looked like he was concentrating on a vague memory.

"I feel like it's on the tip of my tongue. God. Etherious… Shit."

Makarov shook his head.

"Etherious Natsu Dragneel," Zeref supplied.

"Why was I not informed of this?" Makarov growled. "Natsu is one of your demons!? I don't believe this." He was firm on in his tone. Zeref felt awed at the power Gemi-Mest must have wielded in order to manipulate a Wizard Saint's memory the way they had.

"Fuck," was all Laxus could say as another bolt of lightning arched off of him, this time hitting a desk ornament on Makarov's desk. The ornament quickly turned to ash.

"Believe it or not," Mavis piped in, "you both used to know all of this. Your memories have been hidden from you by Lucy's Celestial Spirit Gemini."

"I thought Gemini was just able to repli… Ooh," Makarov thought out before the 'light' went on upstairs. "Gemi-Mest. That's what you meant." Mavis nodded.

"Shit."

"So Lucy rewrote this book?" Makarov questioned.

"Yes. I had killed him," Zeref said factually. "Lucy literally stitched him back together by rewriting the book that gave him life."

"So why does that mean you two are alive still?" Laxus droned. He sounded uninterested, but he was actually memorizing every word, trying to piece what they were saying together with fragmented memories of the war.

"Lucy's theory is that she didn't properly break the life link between myself and Natsu. So when she put Natsu back together, I was too."

"And Mavis?"

"Lucy says I am here due to the love Zeref and I share. But we actually have no clue."

"What about Pyro? Is he still a demon?"

"Simply put, yes," answered the dark mage.

"Fuck."


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Sorry! I didn't mean to take so long to update. Hopefully, I will get more out to you this week.**

* * *

 _"What about Pyro? Is he still a demon?"_

 _"Simply put, yes," answered the dark mage._

 _"Fuck."_

* * *

"If you are worried about Natsu, don't be. Lucy made sure he would never fall fully into his demon nature," Zeref said as a static charge built up in the room, making the hairs on his arms stand at attention.

Makarov searched Zeref's eyes and face trying to identify any form of deceit. He then looked over Mavis. Perhaps he had underestimated Lucy's skills and magical capacity. It was no simple task writing a book of Zeref. They living magic used to build the Etherious was powerful. Makarov was curious about the details. How had she done it? Why did she manipulate their memories? Where was the book now? Did this mean that there was more 'missing' in Natsu than just his memories of the Celestial Mage?

"Yeah, right. Blondie doesn't have that kind of skill," Laxus growled. "We should send someone after that flamed-headed idiot before he goes demon on some innocent pedestrian." The static in the room intensified. The others all recognized the rise in pressure as a sign of Laxus powering up his lightning teleportation.

"Stay put." Makarov glared down his grandson. "We have no reason to not believe what they say."

Mavis smiled. She could always count on Makarov to stay level headed and to trust someone first, at least until proven otherwise.

"Can we move on from Natsu and the book?" Mavis asked. She wanted to discuss how they were going to keep the guild together. While the happiness of the members was important to her, she knew that it could not be addressed until the soul of the guild was renewed or restored.

Zeref grumped, "Only if the next topic is discussing how we get Lucy back into Fairy Tail and back with my brother."

"I hardly think that is as important as restoring the Light of Fairy Tail," Mavis chided. Zeref was so one-track-minded. It was something she adored about him, but right now it was annoying. Natsu would find his own happiness. That was what Fairy Tail was about. Lucy was not one hundred percent required.

"You said she WAS the 'Light of Fairy Tail'! And besides, she promised she'd help me reconcile with Natsu."

"Blondie chose to leave, and what does it matter that she used to be the light of the guild? She obviously isn't anymore," Laxus threw in his two cents. The subject of Lucy's previous role in the guild made him irrationally angry.

"Someone else can take up the mantle of the 'light'," Mavis stated. "Before Lucy, it was Lisanna before she disappeared. Before her, there were others. The light is someone who guides the guild down it's true path and everyone holds faith in. The light is the person who will always bring the guild back together."

"I don't believe this!" Zeref yelled. "You can't just discard Lucy like that."

Mavis's face distorted in anger, "Don't you think I'd bring her back if I could!"

Makarov was curious about their argument. Why was Zeref so set on having Lucy in the guild? Did he even know who the girl was? For one, Makarov agreed with Laxus. Lucy chose to leave. Her path is her's alone to walk.

"So what you are saying First," Makarov interrupted, "is that we need to find someone who upholds the spirit of the guild who the other members will rally behind?"

Mavis nodded.

Zeref stared bug-eyed at the Master of Fairy Tail. "What?! You too?"

Mavis huffed, "Lucy is too damaged to just drag back here and have everything be okay. You KNOW that."

"If we don't drag her back here how will she heal? She is too far away now. What about Natsu's memories?"

"I must say, this is a whole new side of you, Zeref," Makarov mused.

"Zeref has his head set on nieces and nephews produced by a certain blonde haired, brown eyed celestial mage and his brother," Mavis giggled.

Zeref crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. "I wasn't pleased about being alive at first. But I have a chance at family, now. So I WILL get what I want."

"Evil genius matchmaker. God, please don't let Mira find out about this," Laxus prayed under his breath. Then he whispered something about two demons and shivered.

"Natsu might not even like Lucy," Mavis reminded her lover. "Besides, he doesn't remember her. And, well, you know what happened between them before the war. If he did remember her, there is no guarantee they would ever speak to each other again… That is what he said he wanted," she mumbled at the end. "Maybe someone else?" She whispered.

Zeref glared at her for trying to spoil his dreams. He refused to give up, though. Lucy was meant for Natsu. The end. Pun intended.

That was news, Makarov thought. Something went down between Fairy Tail's sweethearts before the war? He shook the thoughts away. Guild first.

"So who is the new Light?" Makarov questioned, jarring the others out of their discussion. "Can't Lisanna just take up the role again? Everyone loves her already."

Mavis pondered the idea. "Maybe. She would have to come out of her shell a little more, I think. The problem with this is that the transition can't be forced. True faith in this person must exist. We can't just tell everyone to follow Lisanna's lead and BAM have the guild heal. We can prop her up, though, and maybe the rest will fall into place."

"What about the shadows?" Laxus asked. "You said Lisanna used to be the light before she disappeared. When she left, I don't remember any physical change in the guild like there is now."

"Those are concerning," Mavis thought. "We will have to do more research. I cannot be sure that they are in fact tied to the loss of Lucy or not."

"T'ch."

There was a knock on the door. The noise startled the group and they all turned in sync to look at the wooden barricade as if they had been caught doing something naughty. The odd quiet that fell over the four in the office was broken when a loud voice shouted, "Open up Gramps, we've got shit to discuss."

"Is that Cobra?" Makarov asked Laxus.

"Yeah, and Bicks is with him."

"What do they want," Master grumped quietly.

"I can hear you. Trust when I say you need to hear what we have to say."

Can't this wait? Makarov was not keen on letting more possibly volatile guild members into his office with the black wizard here.

"Zeref needs to hear this too," Cobra answered the Master's thoughts. "It deals with Bright Eyes."

"What is Bright Eyes? And why would I need to hear about it?"

"IT? She's Cosplay!" There was a pounding on the door again as Bickslow had his babies slam into it repeatedly.

"Who?" Zeref asked again, shouting over the insistent banging.

"Lucy, dear," Mavis supplied for him. Zeref raised an eyebrow. Just how many names did the girl go by?

"Let us in before I corrode the door."

Makarov waved a hand allowing the runes around the door to drop for the two to enter. "Come in, then."

* * *

Minerva enjoyed people watching.

After years of being forced to dominate those around her, the ex-demon was finding the job of a wallflower to be relaxing.

It didn't help that no matter what anyone said, she would never feel like she was truly one of the guild anymore. Forgive and forget, they said. We're nakama now. We need you here Minerva, their voices cried. But, she had hidden herself for so long under masks and layers of false personality, that she just wasn't sure how to be herself. How to integrate this new Minerva back into the life her old self would have torn a part. Was who she was now someone they still wanted?

She deeply cared for Sabertooth. The guild was her home despite her own unease in how she fit into everything. She was no longer 'M'Lady of Sabertooth'. She was still feared as if she were a demon by some, and she had no idea how to change that. She did what she could. Participated in guild activities. Smiled. Stayed out of the way. But nothing really got rid of the dark shadow of her past.

It was a day like so many when the blonde celestial mage had first stumbled through the guild hall doors looking timid as she asked for Master Sting. It was the girl's brown eyes that made Minerva feel like she had found someone just as lost as she was. Minerva had stood to help the girl to Sting's office, but Orga had reached the blonde first and Minerva missed her chance.

It seemed only moments after the petite blonde had entered Sting's office that she was dragged back out rather harshly by the guild master himself, who was cussing rather loudly. "Whatever shit this is about, blondie, I ain't touchin' it with a 100 foot pole. We are getting you back to Magnolia, right now."

"Please don't do this! Let me explain," the blonde had cried reaching to grab onto the railing to the stairs in order to gain some purchase to stopped Sting's harsh tugging on her arm.

"Nope." Sting popped the 'p' to accentuate his displeasure.

"Sting?" Rogue questioned his partner in crime as the blonde was practically dragged by his table.

Minerva had wanted to stop Sting from throwing out the girl she had once beaten to near death, but was frozen in fear. Would intervening make people see her as 'M'lady' again? Would the girl even want her help? The desperation that rolled off the mage now being thrown over Sting's shoulder was akin to the feeling Minerva had felt when she had thrown her life away to find a place for herself in Tartarus.

"I am hand delivering you back to Fairy Tail. I ain't starting no inner-guild war because the Light of Fairy Tail came to Sabertooth," Sting answered the blonde pleading harshly. "Nope. Just nope. I don't even want to think what Natsu would do…"

The rest of his sentence was cut off as the guild doors closed loudly behind him and the captive blonde. Minerva wished more than anything that she had moved. That she had stood up for the girl and made Sting listen. But what right did she have to force the guild master to do anything. It wasn't her place anymore. Was it? Could she speak with Sting about it when he returned?

It was a full week later that Sting returned, the blonde haired, brown eyed petite woman in tow. For once, Minerva hadn't been able to read the emotion on the White Dragon's face, he was as stoic as Rogue usually was. She wondered if he was hurting his brain by thinking so hard. The blonde behind him seemed relatively pleased with herself and Minerva wondered what all had happened between the two in the week Sting was gone.

Sting had traveled to the center of the hall where most of the members who were not out at jobs were sitting and socializing. Minerva was sitting along the wall furthest from the entrance, yet close to the doors to the guild library. Rogue had joined her table, both enjoying silent companionship and a small understanding of each other's darkness.

Sting cleared his throat and called for the guild to listen up. Minerva was surprised by his announcement. The blonde, Lucy, was to become a duel guild member between Sabertooth and Fairy Tail. Sting wielded the guild stamp like a weapon as he joked with their newest addition about where he should place it. He slipped out of his stoic mask and back into his rambunctious self as he pulled at her skirt asking if she wanted it on her right or left cheek. The blonde blushed furiously as her lacy, black thong was flashed to the entire guild.

Sting chased her around snickering like a mad man until he rather unceremoniously fell into a hole that magically appeared underneath him. A maid with pink hair and dead eyes popped out of the ground next to the blonde asking for punishment and suddenly Minerva felt like there was a light shining through the darkness in her corner of the room. Lucy was something else. Even when she wasn't trying. Even when her eyes told a story of deep depression and loss.

Minerva wanted, no needed, to get to know their new member. It was like a craving. She was craving the blonde's light. She needed it in order to feel like she belonged again. Again she found she was afraid. Flashes of the Naval Battle from the Grand Magic Games stopped her from standing and congratulating the new member like she wanted to.

So she watched. She watched as Lucy asked her maid to kindly get the guild stamp from Sting. She watched as the girl placed the stamp to the skin of her right collarbone and the magic flared to leave a new mark. The navy blue Sabertooth mark was dark on the girl's pale complexion and resembled the color of the night sky. Staring at it gave Minerva the impression that there were stars glowing just beneath the surface of the mark.

As the months past, Minerva continued to watch Lucy closely. There was something Lucy kept walled off from the rest of the guild, and most of it seemed to do with her time at Fairy Tail. She was always friendly, but the light Minerva thought she saw that first day seemed to be damaged now. The stars that had glowed just under the skin of her guild mark were all but vanished, and Minerva mourned their loss.

Then, today, when the celestial mage appeared in her usual spot crying like her very soul was broken, Minerva could no longer just sit and watch. She had finally worked up her nerve to head back to the library when Orga rushed back out muttering about Sting. The territory mage paid him little attention as she strode into the library searching for the black hole that used to be a shining star.

Rufus was laughing, a noise she hadn't heard very often, and Lucy was chuckling along with him. The noise wasn't the usual tinkling, however, it was a quiet broken breath. It made Minerva shudder. Despite never actually approaching the blonde, the raven haired beauty had always felt that they were connected somehow. So with little preamble, Minerva sat down as close to Lucy as she could and demanded, "You will tell me where your light has gone to, Heartfilia."

Lucy nearly jumped out of her skin. She knew that Minerva wasn't anything like how she was during the Grand Magic Games and Tartarus, but it didn't change the presence the mage carried with her. She was authority and grace. Power. Lucy felt small and insignificant. While Lucy had long forgiven Minerva and didn't hold her behavior from so long ago against the woman, it didn't stop her nerves from being on end.

"M-my light?" Lucy stuttered unsure of what Minerva was trying to say.

"Yes. What happened. You are like a black hole now."

Rufus glared at territory mage and tried to convey how much she should NOT press the issue at this current time. Minerva's sharp green eyes met his and did little to hide how much she did not care what his opinion on the matter was.

"Ah? A black hole."

Minerva turned her gaze back to Lucy and rolled her eyes. "Don't play like that with me, girl. You have been losing your natural brilliance ever since you walked through the door months ago."

"Uh. Uhh?" Lucy glanced between Rufus and Minerva wondering what was going on. Minerva had not spoken to her once since she had awkwardly apologized before the whole Avatar incident. "Am I missing something here?" Lucy mused.

Rufus shrugged in response. Minerva huffed. "You've been keeping us all at arms length since you joined, and then you keep leaving to go back to that other guild. And when you come back to us, you are a little more broken than before. Now, you are all the way broken and I want to know why."

Lucy wanted to be mad, and she was mad. "You! We aren't even… You… ugh. You can't just expect me to spill my guts to you! I hardly know you!" Lucy flailed her arms around as she spoke, exacerbated by Minerva's demands.

"You hardly know any of us," Minerva pointed out, "so why not me?"

Lucy crossed her arms and glared off into the distance like a petulant child.

"She left Fairy Tail for good," Rufus offered up. Lucy turned to glare at him. "Memorized. What a charming expression."

"Errgh!"

Minerva grabbed at Lucy's right hand, shocking the irritated blonde with her touch. "So I see."

"Apparently, there were some choice words sent her way by other members that left her feeling… down."

"Ha!" Minerva laughed out.

Rufus looked at her in surprise, "You are being cold, Minerva."

Again, Minerva found that she couldn't restrain her eye roll. "Lucy has thicker skin than that. Anyway, this 'breakage' has been going on a lot longer than just today. I want to know what all that shit guild did to you. Don't tell me you aren't curious to know, Rufus."

"Of course I am, but I wasn't going to force it from her."

"Pfft." Minerva waved Rufus off. "If we don't force her to talk about it soon she will wall herself away and stay broken. She's nakama now. A full Sabertooth mage. Is it not our duty to heal our own?"

Rufus was more than surprised at Minerva's declaration. She had become so quiet despite her involvement in guild activities. He honestly hadn't been sure if she adopted the new Sabertooth family ideal or was just playing along. But now he knew.  
"Stop!" Lucy muttered. "It isn't important, anyway. I will get over it. I don't want to be anyone's burden."

"A burden?" Rufus questioned.

"Ah, so that's it, isn't it. Some stupid shit in Fairy Tail claimed you couldn't hold your own and were a burden, didn't they."

Minerva's intuitive response had Lucy turning red with a weird embarrassed heat. She refused to answer, and instead stared hard at floor. Perhaps she was already seen as a burden to Sabertooth as well? Why else was it so easy for Minerva to make such assumptions. Her heart felt tight in her chest again. The heaviness of her guilt and grief falling down on her shoulders once more.

"Who ever it was is an asshole who can't see your true value," Minerva said quickly as she witnessed the the gravitational pull of Lucy's darkness swirl to life from whatever inner turmoil the mage had.

"What true value," Lucy muttered lifelessly.

Rufus looked shocked at how quickly his efforts of cheering up the girl went spiraling down the drain. He wanted to throttle Minerva for her brutal honesty.

Rather suddenly, Minerva smacked Lucy on the back of the head.

"Ow, what the hell?"

"Snap out of it, Heartfilia!"

"You didn't have to hit me!"

"You wouldn't have heard what I have to say if I didn't. God, you are depressing right now."

"No one asked you to be here."

"Pfft, damn right. But I am here anyways, aren't I?"

Lucy turned her head away pouting.

"Do you know why I was so hard on you during the Naval Battle?"

Lucy turned back surprised, "Uh, because you hated me?"

"Yes, but not entirely. I was jealous of you and what you had in your guild. First, you shone so brightly along side your partner that it was like the two of you made up the sun. He held everyone together through his heart and you healed everyone through your soul. Second, you were supported, and lifted up by your guildmates. Encouraged to do better but never punished for your failure."

"It wasn't like that," Lucy said softly. "They didn't want me there. It was all a show."

"What?" Rufus nearly shouted. Minerva merely scowled.


	18. Chapter 18

"So she's back in the guild?" Sting questioned queasily. The train was rocking back and forth as it pulled up to Magnolia Station. He wouldn't have answered the Lacrima Communicator at all if Orga hadn't been the one calling.

"Yeah. But, Sting, she came without her Fairy Tail mark."

Yukino gasped, her hand jumping to cover her lips in surprise. She glanced at her companions gaging their responses to the news. Sting was mildly surprised, Rogue looked like he had seen this coming for awhile. Yukino had been sure that Levy and Lisanna would have convinced Lucy to stay, but it seems like something had changed recently.

"About time," Lector chided. "She's been talking about it for the last couple visits."

"Frosch thinks so too!" the green cat agreed. "Fro is glad Lucy will be with us from now on!"

Orga was quiet as the cats reacted before meeting Sting's eyes through the communication device, "She's messed up, Sting."

Sting, who was already feeling rather nauseated, gagged at the implication. "She's not injured, though, right?"

"Nah, not that Rufus or I noticed."

"Is she alone?" Rogue asked quietly.

"I left her with Rufus and I saw M'Lady head back to the where they're sittin'."

"Mini-chan is with her?" Yukino worried her lip as she rolled that thought over in her head. She hadn't seen the two interact at all.

The train jerked to a stop. The motion made Sting want to wretch, but he kept his cool while Orga was staring him down. "Ugh, we're only like half way home. Just pulled into Magnolia, gotta switch trains to head onto Crocus."

Rogue and Yukino were standing and grabbing their packs. Sting took a moment to stand and the group headed for the exit. "Keep a close eye on her, Orga. I don't want her to be alone," Sting instructed. "We all know that she's been hiding…" Sting didn't finish his sentence, he didn't need too.

"We will keep her grounded."

"Thanks. We have about another eight hours of travel," the idea of it sent Sting's stomach rolling, "and I want to see her when we get there."

"She'll be fine, Sting," Rogue tried to sound comforting as they gathered on the station platform, looking for direction to their next train.

"Oh, there, platform 10," Yukino pointed. They all started walking. Lector jumped up to ride on Sting's pack, while Rogue cuddled the costumed Frosch in his arms. Yukino lead the way.

"Orga," Sting sounded pleading.

"I know." Orga answered before the call went dead.

Sting was so wrapped in the stress he was feeling that he didn't at first recognize the voice calling to his group. It wasn't until the blue fur ball was hovering in front of his face, preventing him from moving forward, that Sting blinked back into reality.

"I said, WAIT UP!" Happy shouted.

Sting swatted at the cat. "What the hell? What are you doing here, Happy?"

Happy held up a train ticket, "I'm headed to visit Lucy. Natsu and the others are being big dummies."

"Fro thinks so too!"

Happy turned and glared at the frog-cat, "You weren't even there, how do you know!"

"It's obvious, Happy," Lector chimed in as he rolled his eyes. "Why else would she want to join Sabertooth."

Happy thought about that for a second before huffing. "Yeah, well, can I travel with you guys?"

"Sure Happy," Yukino replied with a smile. "Lucy will be glad to see you, I'm sure!"

"She disappeared from the guild! Does that mean she's already at Sabertooth?" Happy asked. He was feeling a bit hyper now that he had travel companions. He had been nervous at first, leaving without Natsu.

"Of course she is," Lector replied.

"What? How! All we saw were the sparkles her spirits give off."

"Don't you know anything? Stupid cat," Lector responded.

"You're a cat too, you know," Happy pouted defensively.

The train leaving for Crocus made its way into the station, sliding up to platform 10, brakes squealing in protest as the wheels were forced to stop. A puff of steam blew out from under the train carriage as the train came to a rest. The doors were all pushed open by passengers as they pushed their way onto the platform to then on to the rest of their journeys.

The group of Sabertooth mages, plus Happy, waited for the crowd of passengers disembarking to dissipate before their clambered into a train carriage looking for a spot to sit. They found an open grouping of seats in the middle of the carriage, stowed their luggage, and sat. The exceeds taking to the laps of the mages.

Once they were settled, Rogue spoke up, "So, Happy, what happened at your guild today? We heard Lucy arrived at Sabertooth without her Fairy Tail guild mark."

"I don't know what prompted her leaving," Happy started. "Today is the first day I'd seen her in months. She just came down from Master's office and Erza realized her guild mark was gone!"

"What else happened?" Sting tried to sound demanding, but the train was rocking back and forth as passengers moved about the carriage to find seats, triggering his motion sickness. He glared at Rogue who acted completely unaffected. "Bastard," Sting whispered low as he sneered at the shadow mage.

"I don't know. I guess Laxus kind of lost it. Not even sure how he knew she was leaving since he wasn't at the guild before she came out of Master's office."

"You said Natsu is being a big dummy.." Rogue quested, hoping they could gain some of the information they were missing from the rather talkative exceed.

"Yeah! Super dummy-ish."

Rogue's eyebrows raised as he tried to prompt the cat to explain. Happy was oblivious to his coaxing as he pulled a fish from thin air and started eating it raw.

"Where'd that fish even come from," Lector said in wonder.

Sting groaned. The smell of the dead fish sending his stomach on a rollercoaster of flips and dives. He was glad he sat by the window as he scrambled to open it and clear the smell from his nostrils.

Rogue was wishing he was sitting closer to the window, but Yukino had taken that seat on his side. The train carriage was arranged so that there were sets of four seats where two were set to face the other two before the next row of four. So Rogue was sitting in an aisle seat, with Yukino next to him and Sting sitting across from them in the other window seat. Rogue would kill to stick his head out of the window to escape the fishy smell.

Rogue eyed Yukino, begging for her to pick up the conversation. He knew that if he opened his mouth the only thing leaving it would be whatever was left of his breakfast. Yukino picked up on what his eyes begged of her and asked, "How is Natsu being a dummy?"

Between bites Happy replied, "He keeps saying he and Lucy aren't partners! But they've always been partners."

"They broke up?" Yukino tried to clarify.

"I guess so, but Natsu keeps insisting that he's never partnered with Lucy before. I think he is under some kind of memory charm," Happy finished explaining. "Although, I can't believe for a second that he'd forget Lucy! There was this one time when Lucy was invisible and the whole guild forgot her except for Natsu! And when he remembered her, she reappeared! It was hilarious 'cause she was naked!"

The three Sabertooth mages were not entirely sure if they were following Happy's rambling. They glanced between each other as they silently questioned the idea of Lucy being invisible and forgotten by her guild.

Rather suddenly, Lector dive bombed Happy, smacking him hard enough that he fell off of Yukino's lap and dropped his fish. "You big dummy, Happy! Lucy didn't want anyone to know about Natsu!"

Lector realized his mistake as three pairs of eyes landed on him. Lector gulped. He shouldn't have said anything.

* * *

Cobra roughly pushed the door to the Master's office open and stomped into the cramped space. He glared at everyone with his one eye as he stepped to the side so that Bickslow could enter and close the door behind them. Bickslow nodded at the toxic dragon, indicating that he had the floor.

"You won't be able to replace Bright Eyes like that," he started.

Mavis turned in her seat so that she could face the newcomers. "It isn't any different than any other time the light has switched to a new person." As she studied the two new additions to the conversation she began to grow worried. "What is it you know?"

"Cosplayer held more than just the moniker 'Light of Fairy Tail'," Bickslow butted in. "She literally became the soul of the guild."

Mavis's eyes were curious, "What do you mean?" Zeref turned to face the newcomers as well, realizing that they would probably be on his side for bringing the celestial mage back to Fairy Tail.

"Cosplayer had a soul link with each and every member of the guild," Bickslow explained. "They started to develop in earnest after that whole Fantasia fiasco."

"But soul links are a powerful magic!" Makarov stated in awe. "How was she forming these links?"

"She didn't do anything consciously. And neither did the rest of the guild. They just started forming the longer she was around."

"It made her soul sing with sounds and cords that were unique to each guild member. I didn't really understand what I was hearing until I heard her soul during the Eclipse Gate event," Cobra added.

Bickslow nodded in agreement, "Her soul was so bright from the faith and love she shared with each guild member that it was blinding to look at her."

"So wait, Blondie had a link to each soul in Fairy Tail? So why the hell was she so desperate to leave?" Laxus demanded.

"How the fuck do we know, Spark-plug?" Cobra responded, growling at the other slayer. "'S'not like we were all buddy-buddy! Shit."

"The first I noticed a soul link break from Cosplayer was after Tartarus. But when the guild got back together, her soul fracture was mostly healed and the links to the other members were still rather strong."

"What about now? Does she still have a link for each member of Fairy Tail?" Mavis questioned.

"Nope," Bickslow popped the 'p'. "Mr. Lightning-Bolt over here is to thank for that."

"The fuck did I do?"

For the first time Bickslow turned to face the leader of the Thunder God Tribe. The anger he was feeling made his eyes glow with magic as he stared down the 'boss' of his team. "What did you do? Are you serious right now? You threw her on the floor in front of the guild and called her pathetic. You ripped your soul link from Cosplayer so hard that all the others that hadn't already broken off shattered right then and there. That shit could have fuckin' killed her! NOW," Bickslow continued, growling at the lightning mage, magic sparking in his eyes, "now everyone, EVERYONE, has fractures in their souls because their links to Cosplayer were lost unnaturally! And Cosplayer's soul is so broken… I… I don't even know if there is a way back from how broken she is."

"What about her link with Natsu?" Zeref questioned.

"What about it?" Cobra growled out.

"It's gone, just like everyone else's," Bickslow answered.

"Won't everyone be able to heal and move on?" Mavis asked. "You said that Lucy had a fracture in her soul that mostly healed, so won't everyone else in Fairy Tail be able to do the same?"

"Sure, but I don't think we have that kind of time. The shadows…" Bickslow sighed heavily. His hand running down his face as he tried to calm himself after yelling at Laxus.

"You know something about them?" Mavis asked.

Bickslow and Cobra shared a look. "We have a... theory," Cobra replied.

Mavis nodded giving them an encouraging look so that they would continue.

Bickslow blew air from between his lips as he worked through his thoughts. "From what I can tell, the shadows are connected to Cosplayer's soul. Her light is out. Her soul is dark. The shadows are crawling up the walls and covering the lights of the guild making it dark. Have you noticed the change in some of the members who are here more often. They are more agitated, less connected to each other, less of a family. I honestly don't know if replacing Cosplayer will fix what is happening."


	19. Chapter 19

Natsu was now laying on the floor of Lucy's empty apartment wondering why he couldn't muster the strength to leave. He felt safe here and somewhat protective of the space. He was like a guard dog who had been left behind by its owner waiting faithfully for their return.

None of these feelings made sense to the fire mage and he was struggling to force them out of his mind. Lucy was gone now, right? She wasn't coming back. So what good did it do him to sit in this abandoned place hoping for… Hoping for what? To remember? To have another flash of something like he had when he first entered the apartment, seeing furniture and decorations where nothing but dust remained.

He was fine until Happy started spouting nonsense. He was fine until he woke up to her sent and lost control of his mind. He was FINE before. He wanted to be fine again. There were things to do, and she didn't have any part in any of it.

First, Zeref was still alive. He needed to deal with that.

Second, Happy left him, so he'd need to get his best friend back.

Third, he needed to catch back up with the guild, he had been absent too much, missed too much.

Yeah. Those were things that he needed to do and none of them dealt with the mysterious blonde who caused such a weird turmoil in his gut. He needed to move past this weirdness. It did him no good to dwell on memories he didn't have.

So, Natsu slowly sat up scratching at his head in an effort to clear his mind before rising to his feet to stretch. He looked around the empty space one last time before walking to the window and jumping down to the ground. He needed to regroup, do some training. Perhaps he would go after Happy first. The idea of confronting his brother… that monster… left him uneasy without his best friend by his side. He already missed the blue fur ball and it had only been a few hours since his departure. Maybe he could bother someone else at the guild for awhile?

No. Zeref might still be there.

Natsu decided to head towards his cottage. He hadn't spend more then a night in the little house at any given time since Agnalocia fell. It could probably use some TLC. Then maybe he'd go fishing or train.

Fifteen minutes later found Natsu standing in the doorway of his house wondering what on earth smelled so rotten and knowing that a deep clean was in order. The smell was so intense that he could barely force himself to enter the cozy home, but he eventually did with his first task to open all the windows.

With that done, Natsu turned to observe the mess and wondered how it had gotten so bad with him not even living here most of the time. Dirty laundry was piled in on corner. That made sense, when he came home it was usually just long enough to change out the items in his pack before leaving again with Happy. He could see blood stains on some of the pants and vest that were piled up to his waist and wondered if the rotten smell was due to the gore coating his apparel. He debated throwing the whole lot away, but didn't really want to spend the money to get more.

Natsu stilled as the pile of clothes shifted and a rustling noise came from deep inside its depths. Had something moved into his dirty laundry? Maybe something had died under there and something else had come to scavenge it. That would certainly explain the smell. The pile shifted and some of the layers of pants at the top of the pile fell stiffly to the side as a furry creature backed out, tail thumping. Was that a dog? How did a dog get in his house? The mutt's matted brown fur had sticks, burs, leaves, and probably bugs stuck in it. Natsu thought it looked painful. How could any creature be comfortable sleeping with so much … stuck to it.

The dog hadn't noticed Natsu's presence yet as it continued to slowly back out of the pile of rotting laundry with something clutched gently in its jaws. When Natsu heard the soft cry, he realized that the dog must be moving her pup around, maybe to take the poor thing outside for some evening play. He wondered how long the two had been occupying his home. The pup looked like it might be sick, though, now that he could see it with more clarity as the mother turned her head, finally noticing Natsu.

At first the dog and the dragon just looked at each other. Natsu realized that the the dog was rather big even though it was so scrawny. The animal's shoulder coming up to Natsu's waist. The fur was shaggy, but now that he got a clear view, he wasn't sure it the coloring was actually brown or if that was just mud. The dog gently placed her pup on the ground, where it whimpered and shivered, before it gave off a low growl of warning. Natsu had never dealt much with dogs. Happy wasn't a huge fan of the rival animal. Plus, there never really seemed to be very many dogs of any type around Fiore. The people who did have them as pets usually were the rich, who had to import the animals from Seven, Bosco, or Pergrande. He wondered where this particular animal had come from.

As the she-dog growled lowly, Natsu contemplated what his next move should be. He didn't want to cause the animal to get defensive, knowing that any mother would kill to protect their young. Natsu decided to follow his instincts and grinned widely while putting his hands up in the air to try and convey he meant no harm. The two were in a standoff as the mother stood defensively over her pup and Natsu tried to look as non-threatening as possible. After what felt like a frustratingly long time, the dog lowered her head whimpering and nosing it's pup.

"I'm gonna go find ya some food, okay?" Natsu spoke. He was so used to having full conversations with his cat, he didn't even question the validity of speaking to the dog. It was clear to him now, however, that the animal needed help. So, he would help her. Natsu slowly moved to the door and stepped out of his cottage. He took a deep breath of the clean smelling air before he went out into the forest surrounding his home to hunt for meat and to pull a bucket of wall from the nearby well.

An hour later, Natsu was back holding two slightly charred rabbits and a bucket of fresh water from the well. The dog was curled up around her pup and the pup was noisely suckling form it's mother's tit. The sight warmed the dragon slayer as he approached the pair cautiously. He put the rabbits down and pushed them gently towards the mother and then set the bucket down next to the meat. Hoping that she'd get the idea that the food was for her, Natsu moved away.

It was getting dark now, and Natsu would need light in order to start the cleaning process he obviously needed to do. Lacrima lights were placed around his home along the walls. He went to each one pushing some of his magic into the crystal-like devices giving his home a warm glow. The kitchen area was the cleanest, still bearing the neat and organized look Lucy put everything in the last time she cleaned.

Why did he think that? Natsu paused. When had Lucy ever been to his house? He shook the feeling away remembering his resolution to forget about the weirdness of the girl and move on.

Natsu dug through a kitchen drawer and found a dish rag before he opened the cabinet door under the sink and pulled out a bottle of cleaner. He would wipe down the countertop and small table and then move on to picking up the trash around the floor. The fire mage glanced over at his current housemates and was happy to see the mother eating the rabbit he left, occasionally stopping to drink the water. Time to get to work.

* * *

Zeref felt vindicated. They HAD to get Lucy back now or else the guild would fall a part. He wanted to cackle. And he did, which made the others in the room flinch uncomfortably.

Mavis hummed to him under her breath, "You're scaring the children…." Zeref didn't seem to care, however, and continued to cackle for a solid minute at the irony. Fate was on his side. Everyone had been 'let the girl go', but now, now they would have to find a way to bring her back. Natsu would get his girl yet!

In the midst of his elation, he took a moment to take whatever fates existed that Lucy had not perished when the soul links snapped. And then, he took a moment to truly accept the fact that she had unconsciously made a link to each soul in the guild, and maintained those links without knowledge of their existence. His admiration of the celestial mage grew. Her diversity and magical intuitiveness was becoming legendary to him.

His cackling slowed as he whispered his delight at all of her talents, "Not only does she spur the Spirit King himself into battle, but she was was able to learn and utilize living magic within minutes to save Natsu. Then we find out about the blood seals, and now this… soul link thing. Is there anything she can't do? So much powerful magic."

"She did each of those things out of love," Mavis chimed in. "She loved so much that she moved the heavens and rewrote life itself to save her nakama."

"Hold up," Cobra interrupted the seated mages, "Bright Eyes did a blood seal? That's dark magic."

"Multiple blood seals, according to her," Zeref responded. He felt proud for some reason. A silent observer of the Heartfilia line seeing all of his quiet interferences in their line paying off in the golden child.

"Fuck," Cobra stated. His hand scrubbed through his hair showing agitation at the news. "And you said she used life magic? What the hell is that?"

"Living magic," Mavis corrected. "Zeref's magic. It is what the he used to create the Etherious Demons, including Natsu."

"I wonder if the living magic from rewriting Natsu's book somehow latched on to her. Like ghost-bits of writing that weren't important, but still there. Maybe that is what makes the shadows so… Dark? So negative?" Mavis wondered aloud.

"What, like a possession or something?" Laxus asked trying to make sense of what Mavis was suggesting. "So what? Part of Natsu's demon soul is stuck to Blondie?"

Zeref looked like he was in deep thought over the concept. A physical manifestation of her pain seeped in the original dark intent he instilled in END? Interesting concept. Seemed kind of out there, though. Although, with the celestial mage, nearly anything seemed possible.

"If this is some residue from END, how exactly to we get rid of it?" Makarov queried the group. "Can we do some sort of cleansing and move on? Gray could use his Demon Slayer magic and…."

Bickslow shook his head, "If the shadows are some sort of indication for how broken the guild is due to the soul links being destroyed, I don't think 'cleansing' the area will work. They will just come back again and again until the souls are healed."

"But it's worth a shot, right?" Laxus said. "I mean, look at me. I am one of the best examples of how much this shit affects the members. Fuck! I never would have called Lucy pathetic before, I know she isn't!"

"Get Gray up here," Makarov said. "Maybe it will at least allow for some temporary relief until we can figure out a more permanent solution. Bickslow, isn't there anything your Seith Magic can do to help the healing process?"

"It's risky, Gramps. I could make it worse if I'm not careful."

"Perhaps if we had a volunteer?"

"I don't know, I don't want to cause someone more pain. Souls are a direct link to one's magic. The more broken one is, the most possibility for instability…."

"So what about Lucy then?" Zeref asked. "You said she was completely broken. Does she have any control over her magic?"

Bickslow shrugged, "I won't be able to know that unless I see her try and use it."

"She's a Sabertooth mage now," Makarov reminded the group. "It is unlikely we will get a chance to observe her. Maybe we can call Sting and let him know of the possibility."

Bickslow nodded, approving the idea.

* * *

"What?" Sting answered the Lacrima call with little patience, the call was interrupting his attempt to integrate Lector. The train seemed to be rocking extra hard on their way to Crocus. It was a consequence of being in the foothills of the mountains as the train chugged in a roundabout way toward the capital city of Fiore. Sting's stomach lurched painfully as he attempted to keep the bile from spewing past his lips.

"Why Master Sting, is that anyway to greet your elder?" Makarov joked. "Where are you? On a train?"

Yukino grabbed the communication device out of Sting's hands to prevent any more bild from reaching her shoes. "Sting is currently trying to master his motion sickness, Master Makarov.

"Is Lucy with you lot?" the Master of Fairy Tail questioned.

"No Sir, she is already at Sabertooth," Yukino answered sweetly.

Makarov's eyebrow twitched as he mumbled, "How'd she get there so quick?"

"Does no one know anything about my Lucy?!" Lector yelled while dodging Happy.

Yukino sent a glare to the red-orange exceed before answering, "She gate jumped."

"Even I knew she could do that," said an unidentified male voice in the background of Makarov's office. Yukino wondered who else was there with the renowned Fairy Tail leader.

"How the hell do you know ANYTHING about Blondie?" Yukino recognized that voice as Laxus, but couldn't see the man to affirm her suspicion.

"She showed us when we kidnapped her," the unfamiliar voice stated dully.

This news prompted Sting to sit at attention as he burped out, "Who is that? Who kidnapped Blondie?"

"When did you take Bright Eyes? If you hurt her, I'll poison the fuck out of all your food!" Yukino felt a little concerned at this.

She decided to interrupt the weird interrogation that started on the other end of the communicator. "Why do you need to speak to Lucy?"

"Oh, right. Well," the Master paused, and Yukino wondered what he was about to tell them. Before he could continue, the communication lacrima was grabbed from his hands and a blue haired mage with three mohawks and an odd tattoo on his face appeared in Yukino's view.

"Listen, Cosplayer was hurt," the man said. Yukino was searching her memory to find the man's name, but she came up blank when she heard that, who she assumed was Lucy, had been hurt.

"Bur Orga said she had no injuries when she arrived at Sabertooth," Yukino spoke quietly, her voice hardly heard over Sting yelling that he'd kill the one who hurt their Blondie.

"Shudup," the man said. "I don't mean physical hurt, I mean emotional. Cosplayer's soul is damaged."

"WHAT THE HELL!" Sting yelled and tried to grab the communicator from Yukino's hand.

With a practiced ease, she managed to keep it out of the dragon slayer's grasp as she calming replied, "And what do you mean by that?"

The man sighed and her view of the room of people shifted again as someone else grabbed onto the device. She could have swore for a moment she saw a man with an uncanny resemblance to Zeref. The idea sent chills down her spine. The face that came into view now was Laxus.

"Look, some shit went down with Blondie in the guild and as a result her soul is all torn up. Bicks says that her magic may become unstable with how broken she is. Keep an eye on her."

"You bastards BROKE our guildmate?" Sting yelled.

"Tell your guild master to calm the fuck down," Laxus replied. "There's more, but I don't think it will affect you guys." The lightning mage paused for a moment before adding, "If you start seeing strange shadows around your guildhall, give us a call."

Rogue sat up straighter, "What kind of shadows?"

"Aggressive shadows," Laxus responded. The called ended before any more questions could be asked.

Yukino blinked at the communication device wondering what exactly had happened to Lucy.


	20. Chapter 20

_"It wasn't like that," Lucy said softly. "They didn't want me there. It was all a show."_

 _"What?" Rufus nearly shouted. Minerva merely scowled._

* * *

"Surely that wasn't the case," Minerva spoke up after a brief silent pause between herself, Rufus, and Lucy. "Fairy Tail does not come across as being insincere in any capacity."

"Did someone say that? Is that what happen when you left the guild today?" Rufus added. True concern covering his masked visage.

"It isn't hard to read between the lines," Lucy answered vaguely. "Look. I just had to go through all this earlier today with Zer…," she paused not sure if letting everyone know of Zeref being still alive and that it was her fault was the best move. But then, maybe it was time for her to just be honest with someone. "... with Zeref and Mavis. I just... I think I need some time to recover before I go through it all again."

Rufus and Minerva stayed quiet. Lucy wondered what they were thinking. Both faces were unreadable. Rufus hid behind his mask. Minerva using a well practiced mask to cover her thoughts.

"Look. Right now, everything is so raw for me. I just need some time, please."

Minerva squinted her eyes at the petite woman as if judging her sincerity. Rufus remained stoic, apparently taking a note from Rogue's book on communication etiquette: 'Never show emotion unless Frosch is involved'. Lucy glanced between the two nervously wondering if she could attempt to just walk away.

"No." Rufus was the first to break the silence. "I don't think you should take time for this."

Lucy had thought Rufus would be the understanding one considering earlier he had stated she didn't have to open up to him yet. She wondered why he was changing his tune now. "You said you would wait for me to be ready!"

Minerva raised her eyebrow at the memory make mage, the silent conversation of "really?" and "well obviously not NOW!" being sent between the two.

"Well, it is a little more concerning now that Zeref seems to be involved somehow. I can't help but be insulted that a dark wizard who tried to kill every human on Earthland knows more about what is going on with you than I do as your nakama and guildmate." The man huffed irritated at the situation.

"Well, to be fair, he was more likely to kill me for not talking than you are, so…"

"Can we start where you had a conversation with a dead guy? Who is Mavis?" Minerva asked while holding up a hand to halt the beginnings of the other's argument.

Lucy sighed. She was regretting opening her big mouth. She should have put a gate jump magic circle directly to her guild apartment so she could have bypassed this whole ordeal. "Look, it started when Natsu and I got in a fight and broke up our partnership. He said some pretty harsh things, but the worst was when he admitted the guild didn't want me there."

Lucy paused and waited for a second or two. When the two mages didn't interrupt her story with exclamations of any sort, the truth of Natsu's confession settled deeper into her gut. Maybe Sabertooth had seen the signs too, they didn't seem surprised at all.

"Anyway. The short version is that I rewrote Natsu's book, the Book of END. I had to in order to keep him alive. I guess I didn't do it right because saving Natsu meant saving Zeref too. Mavis is Zeref's lover and the founder of Fairy Tail. She was the Lumen Histoire. Holder of Fairy Heart. She died along with Zeref during the battle with Alvarez, but they both were brought back when I saved Natsu."

"So you brought the most evil man back to life to save Natsu," Minerva clarified. She was angry and her face contorted into a disgusted snarl. "I hope dooming us to the end of the world was worth it… After that bastard tells you Fairy Tail didn't want you, you saved him anyway. You should have just let him die."

Lucy felt ashamed. An invisible darkness swirled around her, crushing her on all sides. Maybe she had made the wrong decision, but she couldn't undo it now. "I love him," she stated simply. "He hates me, but I love him anyway. I couldn't see him die. I had no way of knowing that rewriting his book would make Zeref come back as well."

Minerva's expression didn't change. Instead, she stood and angrily paced the floor. "So what now? Is there another war coming? Can we even trust Fairy Tail anymore if they are the home to Zeref's lover?" she ranted. "And really? Fairy Tail was founded by someone who LOVES the most evil dickwad in history!? Fuck! I thought Sabertooth had strange beginnings, but that takes the cake!"

Lucy flinched. She hunched her shoulders while drawing her knees up to her chest, she wanted to curl up and disappear. "He isn't going to start another war. Zeref's been released from Ankhseram's curse and so has Mavis. He just wants to be a family with Natsu again," Lucy whispered this into her knees as she hugged her legs against her chest.

Minerva let out a loud and exaggerated laugh, "HAH! So what, we just let him roam around and make nice with his demon brother? Do I really have to remind you how dangerous that man is?"

"Minerva," Rufus interrupted, "I know this is personal for you…"

"Damn right it's personal. I let that man's paythings turn me into a mindless, hateful, demon! I can never go back to being normal! With his followers finding out he still lives…. What if they target me? What if they try to … To turn me back?" By the end of her concerns her voice was wavering and she was having trouble keeping her trembling at bay. "Damnit!" she yelled at she wiped at the tears pushing to fall from here eyes. "Did you even stop to THINK about what this all could mean?"

Lucy shook her head, "I didn't at the time. I just acted to save _him_. I didn't even know Zeref was alive until he kidnapped me to interrogate me about Natsu's book and his memories!"

"Natsu's book!" Minerva exclaimed. "If we destroy it, I bet Zeref will die. I mean if rewriting the thing brought him back, destroying it will…"

"NO!" Lucy yelled. "Destroying that book is a death sentence to Natsu as well!"

"Natsu is a _demon_! He isn't even real! Just a Golem instilled with magic!" Minerva shouted back.

"That isn't true! I know it! Natsu has a soul, a real human soul even if part of it was tainted. I had to stitch it back together myself. It wouldn't be fair to destroy him. None of this is his fault!"

Minerva actually growled at that. "Not his fault? Really?"

"How can it be Natsu's fault. He DIED! A dragon _killed_ him and his parents. What Zeref did to Natsu's soul and corpse was out of his control, he was nothing more than a baby when it happened!"

Minerva stepped back at that with wide eyes. Lucy continued her rant, defending the man she still loved despite everything, "Zeref went crazy from loss and guilt and tried every form of magic known to try and bring his family back. Then he was cursed and everything he loved was contorted by contradiction, forcing him to work to destroy instead of create. When he finally succeeded at bringing Natsu back, it was a twisted contradiction to what Natsu really was. In a moment of clarity, Zeref literally ripped Natsu's soul in half and sealed away the contradictions in the book of END. He gave Natsu to Igneel to train. He built the Eclipse Gate to send Natsu to our time and save him and the other dragon slayers from Agnalocia's wrath. It was only due to his curse being awakened by Grimoire Heart that the war followed and the demon part of Natsu was released."

Lucy heaved a bit after her long winded word vomit. She needed them to understand that neither Natsu or Zeref originated in evil. That Zeref was almost born anew now that his curse was lifted. That Natsu was no longer a threat to anyone since she fixed his soul.

"I know… I KNOW that the people who followed Zeref like he was some sort of god are still out there and will always be out there," Lucy said, her voice softer now than it was before. "Minerva, I and everyone at Sabertooth will protect you from that darkness with everything we have. I am grateful to be in the Sabertooth family and I will not betray you or anyone else to those monsters. I promise."

Minerva was still angry, but now tears were falling from her eyes at Lucy's words of loyalty. She didn't know how to respond and was worried if she could trust the blonde now that she appeared to be so broken. Did her promises still hold any weight? As the thought crossed her mind a golden shower of light shimmered next to Lucy and her lion spirit appeared. He stood next to his key hold with dignity and grace.

"As the leader of the Zodiac and a spirit who is contracted to Lucy, I can assure you that her word is still sacrate. She will die before she allows any follower of Zeref use any of her nakama for evil purposes. If she was not fully invested in this promise, our Contract would be voided," Loke spoke.

Lucy smiled at her most loyal spirit, and silently thanked him for his words. It meant everything to her that her spirits were always beside her, willing to defend her in any way they could.

Rufus looked dazed for a second as he held his fingers up to his temple. "I have memorized this conversation and Lucy's promise. She will be held accountable for what she has told us and promised."

"I'm sorry Minerva," Lucy said earnestly. "My actions have caused a greater repercussion than I ever thought possible. At the time I was only thinking about saving the man I fell in love with."

Minerva quickly wiped at her cheeks to catch the errant tears that had fallen. She sniffled and attempted to stand tall. "I forgive you Lucy. I do. I'm sorry that I yelled."

Lucy smiled sadly, knowing in her heart that even with the words spoken, it would probably take time before the two of them could really be friends. "Rufus?" she questioned, seeking any sort of response from the man.

"I have a question," Rufus started.

"Yeah?"

"How exactly did all of that lead to you leaving Fairy Tail? Wasn't Natsu grateful that you saved him? Were their minds not changed about needing you?"

Lucy fidgeted uncomfortably. "Um. Well. No?"

"They were not impressed that you were able to essentially bring the fire dragon back to life by rewriting a book of Zeref?"

"They don't know. Well, maybe they do by _now_ , but I never told anyone in the guild. Gray knew at one point because he was there when it happened, but I had his memory manipulated a little so he wouldn't make a big deal of it, especially since I erased Natsu's knowledge of who I am."

"Wait. You erased Natsu's knowledge of yourself?" Rufus repeated. "What do you mean? And why?"

Lucy sighed. She hadn't meant to say that last part, but it was out now and since she was being honest and currently her body wasn't shutting down any more than it already was, it was almost easy to summarize what happened. Apparently she was just too numb to cry more.

"I mean that I denied Natsu's recombined soul access to his memories of me," Lucy stated plainly, numbly.

If Rufus could fall over, he would have, but he was already sitting. Minerva had to sit down.

"As for why. Well, he told me he didn't want to be burdened by me anymore and that he didn't want me around. I had an opportunity to set him free from his burden, so I did. He called me an obligation. Now I'm not."

"Holy shit Lucy," Minerva whispered. "Is that what has made you so broken? You destroyed your bonds with the man you love?"

"I'm sure that is part of it, but definitely not all of it. My avoidance of the guild to make sure I stayed away from Natsu probably didn't help. That was one of the reasons I came here initially. I had lost Erza and Gray and I couldn't be around Natsu and chance his memories coming back…"

"What do you mean you lost Erza and Gray? Did they say shit to you too?" Minerva asked.

"Erza didn't say anything directly, she just avoided doing anything with me. Any time I asked her to do a job or hang out she made up excuses so that she wouldn't have to. It wasn't hard to tell what was going on there. Gray. He was more forward. He wanted all of his time to go to Juvia and didn't think being my friend would help."

"What about everyone else?" Rufus asked. His voice did little to betray any emotional reaction he may be having over the story Lucy was relaying to them.

"There were others who I tried to team with, but I was turned down by most of them. Levy and Lisanna stayed with me, but by the time they noticed how alone I was, I had already made up my mind to leave the guild."

Orga, who had been listening from the library door ever since his call to Sting ended decided to make his presence known. "If you hadn't left that guild already, Sting and I were both going to sit you down tonight and make sure you did the next time you went to Magnolia."

Lucy nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard his deep rumbling voice coming from behind her. Minerva simply glanced his way, unsurprised and Rufus nodded to the lightning god in agreement.

"After all the jobs I've been on with you, I have no clue how any guild would say they didn't want you. You and your spirits are damn useful on a team, and you have received approval to go on some pretty rough jobs solo. You've never let Sabertooth down," Orga stated with confidence. "You are wanted here."

Finally the gates that were temporarily blocking off her emotions broke open and tears rushed down Lucy's cheeks in torrents. Her hand maddly wiped at the water leaking from her eyes and she found herself stumbling as she said, "Th-thank y-y-you."


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Remember to Comment/Review!**

* * *

It was late into the evening, practically midnight, before Sting, Rogue, Yukino, and the exceeds disembarked from the train in Crocus. Sting was anxious to get back to the guildhall and talk with Blondie. Lector had refused to tell him anymore than he already let slip. They were not talking to each other at the moment. Rogue had told Sting to drop it and to just ask the celestial mage when they got back. He wasn't talking to Rogue right now either. Yukino had refused to take either side, which apparently mean that it was her job to relay messages between the others, much to her own dismay.

"Yukino, tell Rogue that I'm getting a carriage to go to the guild tonight and that I'm not sharing with him or the other betrayer," Sting growled dramatically.

Yukino was debating the validity of scolding Sting for being so childish but doubted it would change anything. She did NOT want to repeat everything to Rogue. He was standing RIGHT THERE! Instead, she stayed silent. The high road. The neutral.

"Yeah, well you can tell that idiot that I don't wanna share his stupid carriage!" Rogue answered Sting with his own growl of displeasure.

"Happy, Frosch, Yukino, you're with me," Sting demanded.

"Like hell I'm letting my Fro get in a carriage with you, you moron!" Rogue cried out, grabbing up the little exceed and holding him close.

"Oh yeah! Well as Master of Sabertooth, YOUR GUILD! I demand that you and Lector walk back to the guildhall, ya traitors! Give me Frosch! She's with me," Sting said pointing his thumb at himself and puffing out his chest.

Rogue's shadow drive activated as he growled at his twin dragon partner. "You can go to hell and stick it up your sun-spot!"(**)

Not to be outdone, Sting's white drive flared to life, blinding them all in the dim light of the carriage rental station.

"I'm breaking up the team! I couldn't possibly work with a shadow-tard like you!"

"Not again…" Yukino sighed. The twin dragons broke up about every other week over petty things. She supposed it was the curse of their close friendship that lead them to bicker like two year olds and be so deeply offended over nothing. They would "kiss and make up" in about another week only for it all to repeat again. Sometimes she wondered if the two were more than friends, but she had solid evidence that Sting had at least been intimate with quite a few females in the past. Rogue was an unknown. She liked him, but getting any sort of feelings out of him that were not about Frosch was nearly impossible.

So, ignoring the verbal battle and one-uppance in power displays, Yukino went to the front desk of the E-Z Carriage Rental station and asked the clerk for a driver to the Sabertooth guild hall for herself and three exceeds, since Frosch had wiggled herself free of Rogue's death grip and had toddled along behind her.

She paid the man and waited patiently for the driver to pull the magic carriage around to the front of the station. After loading her belongings and earging the exceeds to board, they were off.

"Won't they be mad we left them behind?" Happy asked curiously.

"Sure. But they will get over it. They won't even notice we're gone until we are arriving at the guild anyway. This isn't the first time," Yukino answered. She felt like should could finally relax for a few moments now that the pair of dragons were far enough away that she could no longer hear their shouting.

"When we get there, will you help me find Lucy?" Happy wondered.

Yukino smiled, "Of course, Happy. I was planning on checking in with her when we got back anyway. You can come with me."

"Thanks Yuki-chan!"

Frosch was curled up on Yukino lap already asleep, and Lector was sitting opposite her with Happy by his side. The orange cat looked ruffled and still upset from Sting's attempted interrogation on the train, while Happy looked, well, happy.

"Lector," Yukino whispered, getting the cat's attention. "You don't have to tell me anything, I just want to know if you think Lucy will be okay."

The exceed sighed deeply and closed his eyes while leaning his head back against the carriage seat. Yukino thought that he might ignore her altogether when after a few moments of silent contemplation he said, "I don't know. I don't think she is dealing with all of the things going on around her at all. She is just pushing it aside." There was a long pause. Lector looked like he was going to say more, but then decided against it.

"Now that she'll be at Sabertooth full time, I know we can help her." Yukino was determined now. Lucy needed her and she wasn't going to let her down.

About forty-five minutes later, Yukino was stepping through the Sabertooth guild's front doors. The commons area was practically deserted except for Orga, Rufus, and Minerva who sat at a round table close to the bar. The three looked her way when they heard the door open.

"Where are stupid-one and stupid-two?" Minerva asked.

"I hope that their argument has calmed down by now and they are on their way. I left them near the carriage rental station," Yukino answered with a shrug.

"Yuki-chan, can we go see Lucy now?" Happy asked while he hovered over the celestial mage's shoulder.

"Sure thing. She's staying in the guild apartments. They are on the third and four floor. I'll take you up."

"Hey, when you're done taking that fire-ass's cat up to see Tiny, come back town. We have to talk when the dragons get back."

Yukino nodded and then lead happy towards the staircases which lead up to the apartments. Lucy's was on the fourth floor with the rest of the female members who did not live in the surrounding area. Lucy had picked apartment 412, which was at the very end of the hallway once you reached the right floor. It was separated from the other lived-in apartments by at least two empty ones. Yukino lived in apartment 408, so on her way by, she unlocked her own apartment and threw her pack through the door to deal with later.

The white haired girl stopped in front of Lucy's door wondering if her fellow spirit mage was still awake. Before she could make up her mind to knock or not, Happy was banging on the door and testing the knob to see if it was locked. It wasn't locked. The blue cat zoomed into the apartment leaving Yukino staring after him with wide eyes.

"LUUUUUUSHHIIIIEEE!"

There was a screech and thud that came from down the hallway. Yukino wondered if she should enter after the exceed, but manners dictated that she wait to be invited in. So, Yukino knocked on the door frame and called out, "Lucy, Happy found us at the train station, is it alright if I come in?"

"HAPPY, GET OUT!" came a roar from what Yukino now realized was the bathroom. Lucy must have been taking a bath.

"Lucy?" Yukino called again.

The blonde in question appeared in the hallway clutching a towel against her chest while holding a sobbing Happy in the other. "Oh! Hi Yukino! I didn't hear you. Come in." The smile that was plastered across Lucy's face was strained and looked like like it was being held on by a thread.

"I wasn't meaning to impose. Happy found us at the train station when we had to switch trains in Magnolia. Since he was headed to visit you, we just brought him along."

Lucy turned to the cat that was dangling by his tail in her hand, "Natsu isn't with you, right?"

"No," Happy sniffled. "He's being stupid!"

Lucy let out a breath and relaxed. The smile slipped from her face and Yukino could see how tired her friend looked.

"Well, I'll leave you two to it. See you in the morning, Lucy!" Yukino backed out of the apartment and closed the door behind her.

"That went well," Yukino mumbled to herself sarcastically as she walked back down the hall, then down the stairs, and back into the guild commons to wait for the dragons to arrive with the others.

It only took another hour for the twin dragons to push open the guild doors. They were still bickering and the noise of it woke Yukino who had put her head down on the table and slept while she waited.

"Oi!" Orga shouted over the noise the two slayers were making. The lightning god's quiet voice echoed across the mostly empty space and grabbed their attention.

"Where's Blondie," Sting asked immediately. "Old man Makarov called on the train and it seems like she might need help re-stabilizing her magic after what went down today at their guild."

The others glanced at each other. Yukino spoke first, "She is probably asleep by now. When I took Happy up to her apartment she was pretty tired looking."

"I didn't notice any instability in her magic, did you Minerva?" Rufus quested.

"Not specifically, but I'm worried about it since she's so damaged."

Rogue had worked his way over to the table his guildmates occupied and seated himself beside Yukino. "Where's Frosch, is she OK?" he whispered in her ear.

"Oh," Yukino gasped. Rogue's breath had tickled her ear when he spoke and she couldn't hide the flush of her pale skin when she answered, "Um, she headed to your place before I took Happy up to Lucy's. Lector is with her."

Rogue hummed and then turned his attention back to the conversation at hand. Yukino couldn't help but fidget next to the shadow mage, her skin heated from his proximity.

"Before you run off, sit down," Rufus demanded of the guild master. "We found out a lot about what went down for Lucy and you need to know."

"Oh thank god! Finally. Did you know that little shit, Lector, knows, like, EVERYTHING and he won't say one fat word about it!" Sting was really irritated. Yukino was taken aback by his verbal assault on his best friend. Lector was everything to Sting.

His statement was met with three pairs of eye rolls as Minerva, Orga, and Rufus did their best to ignore their boisterous guild master.

"Rufus, start from the beginning," Minerva said.

"Right. I memorized the conversations had with Heartfilia-san," the memory make mage started rather formally.

"Get on with it, then," Sting ordered.

Rufus took a deep breath and started reciting everything he had spoken and listened to after Lucy had been brought into the library for him to "fix". It took a whole hour to get through everything that had went down. When the performance was over, and yes it was a performance, there was a dazed silence that buzzed between the mages. There just seemed to be too much to process all at once. Zeref, Natsu, the team, the guild.

Rogue was surprisingly the first one to break out of the information overload, "We can't let her go back there. Like ever."

Yukino nodded, "To think, she sacrificed Aquarius to save them from Tartarus. They left her then too, but she forgave them. Now she saves Natsu, basically the only reason why we are all alive now after he defeated Acnologia, and they leave her again. Only this time it's worse because they are still there, just not for or with her."

"Wait, what about Aquarius?" Rufus asked.

"I think I'm the only one she told. She was worried that I'd hate her for what she did, but I was just amazed."

"And… What happened," Sting pushed.

"She broke Aquarius's key in order to summon the Spirit King. It saved her guild from Mard Geer's Alegria curse. It severed her contract with her first spirit, the one her mother gave her. A summons like that can only work when the spirit and mage share an unimaginably deep bond."

The group was silent again as they all soaked in Yukino's story.

"I can't believe she went back to rebuild Fairy Tail after that," Sting commented. "I can't believe she risked so much by meddling with Zeref's magic to save that idiot fire dragon."

Rogue cleared his throat, "Speaking of Zeref, do you really believe what she said? That he is no longer a threat?"

Rufus shrugged, "We don't really have a reason to question her word at this point."

Minerva sneered, "It isn't Zeref we have to worry about as much as his damn followers who will take this as some sort of Second Coming."

"Shit," Sting cussed. Then he remembered more from the conversation with Makarov, "You guys haven't noticed any weird shadows in the guild, have you?" He got a lot of raised eyebrows in response. "Laxus said we should keep a look out for them. Something about aggressive shadows."

"Da Fuck?" Orga asked. "Aggressive shadows? What does that even mean?"

"No clue, they cut off the call before we could ask. I was thinking about asking more about it tomorrow."

"Well," Rogue stood, "it's getting late. I'm going to head home to Frosch."

"Me too," Yukino chirped as she stood beside the shadow mage. A chorus of 'night' followed them as they walked to the staircase and headed to the guild apartments.

* * *

The Fairy Tail guild hall was quiet. Mira had finished wiping down the bar and cleaning all the mugs and dishes. Laxus was done with his portion of paperwork. Makarov had closed and locked the doors after Zeref and Mavis disappeared back to their home. No one had stayed late to party after the scene with Zeref and Mavis after Lucy left. It was the first night in Fairy Tail history since the Tenrou team returned that nobody stayed past 10 P.M.

The quiet of the hall was only disrupted by a hiss and then a scratching that seemed to echo against the walls. If someone had been in the hall, it would have sounded like family of rats had made their home behind the plastering. It was a scurrying scritch of claws scraping against wooden beams. Each movement of scritch, scratch, scrap was accentuated by a barely audible hssssss.

If there had been any light at all in the hall, then one would have seen how the shadows writhed and swirled in agitation. It would have seemed like they communed with each other, plotting how to avoid the planned exorcism Gray was to perform the next morning before the guild filled up with members and patrons.

Some of the shadows took forms that mirror the shapes of people, but their hands were claws and their heads bore crowns of horns. Some had tails that whipped irritatedly from side to side as they scritched and scratched at their two dimensional prison. The strongest of them pressed against the barrier that pinned them to remain shadows, forcing their strange face against the wall and attempted to stretch past it and force its way into the world against all logic. The shadow snapped back against the wall, however, and shook in rage letting out a hissing roar of determination as it tried again.

Others pushed against the barrier. Their malformed shaped pressed and stretched, trying to join the world, yet each of them were snapped back into their place in the shadows. The scratching and hissing came to a crescendo as packs of shadows attempted to claw their way out into the world.

* * *

(**) - Sun spots usually show up as black looking patches on the sun... So it was kinda my way of having Rogue tell Sting to shove it where the sun don't shine.


	22. Chapter 22

The sun had just started to peek over the horizon when Gray walked with Juvia to the guild. Master Makarov waited for them outside the doors. The old master looked anxious as he watched the Devil Slayer and the Water Woman approach. Before the reached the entrance a crash of thunder and the glaring flash of lightning streaked passed them to strike at the ground to the side of Makarov. Laxus appeared looking rather ruffled and holding a cup of coffee. Gray noticed the lightning man was still wearing his pajamas and was missing his signature coat. Gray couldn't really blame him. It was the ass-crack of dawn.

With merely a nod in greeting the mages entered the guild. They each stopped in a line just inside the guild doors as they silently listened to the intense scratching. The list coming in through the windows made each mage question their sanity as shadow continued to writhe where no shadow should be. They watched as the biggest of them reacted to their entry in the guild hall and screeched a call that grated on their ears.

"Are - are they alive?" Juvia asked gasping. Her hands had automatically gone to cover her ears at the noise made. Her eyes when wide as she watched the large shadow push off the wall, claws grasping for something solid to hold on to before it was snapped back into place.

"What the hell!" Laxus cried. His concern for the situation sky rocketed. Last night when they left the shadows had seemed to move out of the corner of his eyes, but now it was like they had matured or rather they had evolved.

"Did Zeref get back to you with his research on this after he and Mavis left?" Gray asked.

"Nope," the master answered simply.

"I ain't gonna lie here Gramps," Gray said shaking his head in awe as another shadow seemed to jump across the ceiling before scampering down a wall. It disappeared into a mash of shadows that had collected under a table near the bar. "I have no idea what to do here."

"I'd start by coating the walls in your ice and we'll go from there. I think we need to keep the other guild members out of here, however. It does not seem like our hall will be safe for too much longer at this rate."

Laxus snorted, "Ya think? I'll go let Mira know and we'll direct everyone… uh… where should we direct them to go?"

Makarov sighed and thought for a moment. "I guess we will move everyone to the building they used while we were on Tenrou. Fairy Tail still owns the building so it shouldn't be a problem. I'll move the job requests over when Gray is finished here. Juvia, I think it is best that you go ahead of Laxus to the building. Here's the key."

Laxus nodded and then with a roll of thunder was gone, jumping to Mira's house. Juvia took the key from Makarov's grasp and left through the guild doors. She tried to ignore the shadow that seemed to jump around the door as she walk through. She swore she saw it's hand lift from the wall and reach for her hair. Juvia shuddered and scurried out of the guild hall.

"Gramps, I'm gonna have to mix my Ice-Make and Ice-Devil magic. Just in case it goes awry, maybe you can wait outside."

The master rolled his eyes. "I trust you enough Gray. I want to see the reaction these… shadows?... have."

Gray shrugged. He took he normal Ice-Make stance, legs spread and knees slightly bent as he pushed his fist into an open palm by his hips. He activated his Devil Slayer magic, causing black tattoos to take form over his arms, torso, and face. Power gathered around him as the moisture in the air frosted, crystallization around him. Gray was taking his time concentrating on the form he wanted his magic to take. He needed it to contain the shadows and disperse them if they contained any demonic signature. He closed his eyes picturing it perfectly.

"Ice Devil," a aura of ice surrounded the mage as he moved his hands in front of himself to guide his magic, "Shadow Container!"

Ice spread out across the floor and walls at tremendous speeds. Soon every surface was coated in the purple ice of Gray's devil slayer magic. The sun shining into the guild hall reflecting the purple tones of his ice caused a haunting darkness and flickering twilight to take over the once vibrant hall.

Both Gray and Makarov studied the places the shadows had been wondering what affect the devil slayer magic had. Makarov move closer to the wall where the larger shadow had been and looked closely, trying to see though the ice. There was a loud thud behind the ice, the suddenness of it cause the master to take a step back in surprise. The ice shook as the shadows converged on a point and slammed against the barrier. Gray made the decision to create a second layer of the barrier. He gathered his magic again as a larger group of shadows formed and crashed against the ice. A crack formed in the ice and a wispy slither of shadow pushed, slithered, and slid it's way off the wall and through the barrier.

"Gray!" Master called.

"Ice Devil: Shadow Container!" Gray shouted, pushing more magic into his ice as it spread across the guild in a second layer. Gray was breathing heavily having put more effort into the second wall of ice than he did against most monsters he fought.

Master continued to back away from the wall, however, eyes wide. Gray looked over curiously only to find that the escaping shadow had succeeded in ripping itself free of the ice and the two dimensional world shadows dwelled in. It hovered in space, a black ink spot the moved unnaturally in and around itself while it slowly glided to the floor.

When it landed, Gray had expected it to splash like a droplet of water would after dripping free from the faucet, but instead the swirling mass seemed to… sit? Limbs started to haphazardly protruded from the mass. Two limbs ripping out of the the right side, stretching before bending and flailing as digits appear at the ends. The limbs rippled like a wave, digits wiggling like worms until hands formed. With a crack of something solid breaking, one limb flung itself around to the mass's other side. More cracking as the limbs hardened before they seemed to break and form joints. This process repeated as legs formed.

Gray and Master stood in awe and fear, unable to fully comprehend what was happening. They watched in fascination as a balloon grew from between what could be assumed as shoulders. The black balloon grew and grew until it burst apart, swirls of smoky shadow swirled and took shape. A heart shaped face with no eyes. Button nose. Bow lips. Hair parted into two twin tails. Gray sucked in a sharp breath. Lucy. A shadow-Lucy.

"Gramps, what is this?" Gray whispered.

The old man shook his head, unable to answer. "We should call Zeref to look at this. Do you think you can contain it?"

"It? That's Lucy!"

Before the master could respond, the shadow-Lucy began to move. Cracking limbs flailing unnaturally as her arms whipped back and then up over her head before slamming on the wooden floor in front of her. Fingers extended into sharp talons as the digits flexed and dug into the wood. The shadow's talons etched deep scratched into the floor as it pulled it's body forward. Legs were folded with kneed bending the wrong way with sickening crackles as the Lucy look alike reached forward with her right arm. The limb twisted and cracked before flopping up ahead of the creature. It pulled itself again, moving forward until broken knees and ankles shot out behind it. The cracking of joints and tendons as the shadow-Lucy kicked and flopped to straighten out made Gray want to vomit.

"Whatever that is, whatever features it shares with her, it is not Lucy, Gray," the master whispered to his child.

Gray nodded absently. Whatever this was, it was straight out of a nightmare. Gray felt paralyzed and wondered if it was from fear, or if the Shadow-Lucy had some sort of paralytic magic that held him in place. He could only watch dumbly as the creature in front him him tried to push itself upright. The thing's neck was craned at an impossible angle as it seemed to glare at him while arms pushed the chest of the thing off the floor. Legs that had been bent and broken moments before, were now bending to gain purchase on the flooring. The shadow strained like a newborn calf trying to get it's feet under it for the first time. If Gray hadn't been somewhat terrified, he would have found it amusing, but the wrong angles and backwards bending limbs took the entertainment out of the ordeal.

"Any time now, Gray…" the master prompted.

"I don't think I can move, Gramps," Gray replied, gulping at the shadow-Lucy finally stood upright. It was at this point that his brain realized that the shadow version of his friend was naked. Terrifying and naked. The only thing saving him from a nosebleed was that her skin was so inky black that besides the general shape and form, he could not distinguish much about the details. He would never deny that he thought Lucy as attractive. But this monstrosity was too terrifying for his normally pervy brain to come up with anything other than screaming.

"I can't move either," Gramps said, bringing Gray back down to reality.

Shadow-Lucy lurched forward, swaying awkwardly as her feet dragged across the floor to move her into the next step. The things shoulders snapped and crunched causing nausea to roll through Gray like a choppy sea storm. Arms that had been dangling at the shadow's sides craned backward, elbows breaking apart so that the arms crossed neatly behind the thing's back. It would have looked normal, casual almost if it had done the same movement across its chest.

Then it screeched. The noise was high pitched like that of a bird chirping, but reverberated like it was the feedback of a microphone. The mouth of the beast had opened to relieve an impossibly large maw with jagged spears of shadowed-teeth. It seemed like the lower jaw was able to crack a part, and now that it was unhinged, Gray swore it opened large enough for his head to fit inside the thing's mouth.

An arm uncrossed from the shadow-Lucy's back as the screeching came to an end. The hand held up a broken chain made of ice, Gray's ice. The creature stumbled forward again, holding out the chain, eyeless hole looking steadily into the ice mage's eyes. Then it spoke.

"Fix it!" Lucy's voice cried. "Gray, you broke it! Fix it!" Then it screeched again as it's solid form started to fall a part. It's head deflated, arms and legs melted into an inky blotch on the floor before the torso fell to the ground.

Finally feeling free enough to move, Gray wordlessly covered the shadow in his ice before bolting, with the master beside him, to the fresh air outside.


	23. Chapter 23

Lucy woke from a vivid nightmare. She had been a monster and the only thoughts in her head were pure rage and crippling sadness. Tears were swimming down her cheeks as she hiccuped a quiet sob. Her nose ran and snot mixed with the sweat and tears on her face. She felt dirty and scared. Scared of herself and what she might do. As her brain came down from it's terror induced high, Lucy was able see lingering sparkles of light dusting the air around her. There was also a noise she hadn't heard in a long time giving her a nostalgic sense of comfort.

The sparkling dust turned out to be remnants of her magic, a lot of it. The nostalgic noise was Happy purring contentedly on her second pillow at the head of the bed. She felt puzzled. What had triggered a magical response? She'd never woken from a nightmare to find her magic lingering around like this. But now that she noticed it, she felt pretty drained.

Lucy turned to regard the happily sleeping cat curled on her bed and smiled sadly. She had missed the little fur ball. She had missed Natsu, too, but that hurt too much to really think about. Lucy went to curl back under her covers to snuggle the blue cat when a loud pounding sounded from her front door. Happy's stirred enough to kicked mindlessly in his sleep, accidentally clawing the celestial mage on the cheek.

Her head jerked off the pillow, "Happy!" The cat mumbled something about fish and rolled over.

The banging on her door was louder this time and was accompanied by a very concerned sounding Sting, "Lucy! Open the door now! I don't know what the hell happened, but I'm coming in!" The next sound was Sting's shoulder cracking the hardwood of her door.

"Just a minute!" Lucy shouted. Of course her voice was not loud enough first thing after waking. Her croaking did little to deter the dragon who had now demolished her door. She didn't need to see it to tell what happened. Natsu had done the same enough times for her to visualize the destruction in her mind.

"Lucy!"

And there he was, all dressed up in cat print pajama pants, shirtless, and looking terrorized with bed head causing his left side to look slightly flat.

Lucy huffed and slowly sat up in bed. She glared her best glare, but the man who had invaded her apartment and now her bedroom did not, for once, shrink back.

"What do you want Sting," Lucy couldn't help but whine. "I hope you know that the front door repair is coming out of YOUR wallet not mine."

"What?" Sting seemed taken aback. His eyes were wide with worry. He was glancing around the room as if he expected someone to jump out at him.

"Uhhh, what are you doing here, Sting?" Lucy tried again.

The dragon took a deep breath and Lucy recognized the notion as him evaluating the space for unidentified scents. She wondered what in the world he thought was happening in her apartment and was gearing up to Lucy-Kicking out of the building.

"I could feel your magic go haywire," he finally answered. "It was like that time during the Grand Magic Games when Raven Tail stole your magic before you could complete that spell, what's it called. You know the one with, like, fuckin' planets and stuff."

"Urano Metria?" Lucy supplied. "Huh." Lucy was feeling thoughtful now. "I do feel drained after my nightmare."

Sting was studying her intensely and Lucy found herself feeling rather uncomfortable.

"What?"

"Nothing, I guess. Just, old-man Makarov told us your magic might be unstable, didn't say why, though. You had a nightmare?"

"Why would Master Makarov tell you that?"

Sting shrugged again. "Where's Happy?"

Lucy pointed at her pillow.

"Did you guys get a chance to talk yet? He seemed really upset about something Natsu was doing while we were on the train." Sting wasn't sure how Lucy would react if he said he knew how she deleted herself from Natsu. He wanted to feel out the waters.

Lucy sighed while muttering, "I should have done the same to the cat."

Sting raised his eyebrows in surprise before they scrunched together in confusion, "You mean you want to remove Happy's memories too?" Screw feeling out the waters.

Lucy didn't look startled or surprised at what he said. She figured Rufus would have had a pow-wow with Sting when he returned to the guild. She looked down at the sleeping cat who was still purring contentedly. Stupid cat could sleep through a hurricane. "It is hurting him more, I think, for him to remember and Natsu not to." She absently reached for his fuzzy head and scratched at it. "I had Gemi-Mest manipulate Gray, Erza, Jellal, Master, Laxus, Cobra, Levy and a few others in the guild so they wouldn't question me about Natsu's book." Lucy shrugged like this was a no big deal and Sting was struck by how emotionally unhealthy the girl was.

"Lucy…" he started, not sure what to say. He wanted to tell her that erasing herself from people was not the right way to deal with all this pain.

"I only erased information that would protect Natsu from people using him," she defended like she could read his thoughts. "And I only erased Natsu's memories because it was the only way to set him 'free' of his… Obligation," the last word was nearly growled out. "His stupid burden."

"Lucy! You can't mean that! We never thought of you like that! Never!" Happy chirped unhappily. She hadn't noticed when his purring stopped, but it was clear he had heard their conversation.

Lucy looked up at Sting almost pleadingly. Her eyes were desperately asking for his backup for her choices, but he couldn't do that. It had to have been absolute shit to hear what she did from Natsu, but erasing herself from him like that was not the answer. It wasn't 'freeing' him. He barely shook his head to indicate that she was on her own for that one.

Happy was crying, "Why, Lucy?"

Lucy wanted to be mad at Sting for the lack of backup. But it wasn't like he was there or would have understood fully why. He was probably just as eager to hear the whole story as Happy was.

"Remember the night before Alvarez attacked?" Lucy began. Happy nodded. "You were staying with Charla and Wendy. Natsu was staying with me." Lucy then did a detailed run-down of her argument with Natsu. She was tired of repeating the information, but if anyone deserved to know everything it was Happy. Happy, who had apologized for leaving her behind. Happy, who had asked her about her nightmares about Aquarius. Happy, who had jumped the gap and reformed the bonds she so desperately wanted from Natsu. Why couldn't Natsu have been the one who cared? Why was it still so painful?

Happy denied Natsu's claims that she was ever an obligation to either of them. He had actually gone so far as to ask if she was sure it was Natsu who had said those things. But who else could it have been? When Lucy said she confessed loving Natsu to the boy in question, Happy's jaw dropped. When she told him that Natsu said he didn't want her, she thought the little cat was about to have some sort of aneurysm. When he stopped sputtering and jerking around he just lay on his back across her lap staring dazedly at the ceiling.

Sting had stayed quiet through her explanation. The knuckles of his fist were white as he restrained himself from punching Lucy's wall. Natsu was an asshole and the next time he saw the prick he was going to pound his face in.

Happy broke the silence, "The other's? What did you change about their memories?"

"I wanted to make sure no one would go looking for Natsu's book. He deserves to be his own person and free from the things that hold him back. So I just had small things manipulated, like Natsu's connection to END or who was in possession of the book. In Gray's case, since he saw what I did, I removed that memory altogether. I didn't want anyone to connect me back to Natsu's book."

Sting wondered if Lucy understood the hypocrisy of her words. How can Natsu be his own person if she made him forget a part of who he is? He so desperately wanted to point this out to her, but he didn't want to be the bad guy. Besides, if he was in her situation and had that kind of power over someone's life, he can't say he wouldn't have done something similar to suite his own needs or wants. He couldn't really fault her, no matter how wrong it was.

"You had to have known that eventually people would have noticed Natsu not remembering you. You're so stupid Lucy!" Happy berated her. "Now everyone knows!"

"Does Natsu show any interest in remembering who I am?"

Happy thought about it, then shook his head, "Not really."

"Then it doesn't matter if people know he doesn't remember me. Even if they know I'm the one who caused it, there isn't anything that can be done about it now." Lucy shrugged. "If he is happy this way, then I can learn to be happy too."

"Then why'd you leave Fairy Tail? Can't you be happy there?"

Lucy took her time to think about it. "I tried, Happy. I tried to just go on without Natsu as if nothing was wrong, but everyone was moving on and doing their own thing. I realized that I didn't really have anything in the guild to move on to. Erza was moving in with Jellal and doing missions with Crime Sorciere. Gray was finally giving Juvia a chance and they became a team. The idea of sharing the same space as Natsu anymore, even as someone 'new' to him… it was too painful. I tried going solo, and that worked but only after I proved I was capable. Apparently, there was more than just Natsu in the guild who didn't believe I could be a mage on my own."

"Lucy…" Happy said sadly. He placed a paw on her arm and looked up at her with pity.

Lucy shrugged, "It became clear that for a long time there had been less and less of a home for me at Fairy Tail, and then I knew that if I wanted to move forward, I'd have to leave. It's natural for things to change like this. Sabertooth is a great place to be." Lucy smiled up at Sting who was busy staring at the floor like it owed him money, teeth grinding. Her smiled faded, "Sting?"

"I don't understand why no one there believed in you. I mean, you almost destroyed the guild hall in your sleep last night if how hard my apartment was shaking is any indication…"

"It's because she was always the one getting kidnapped," Happy snickered.

"Really cat!?" Lucy huffed as she pushed the blur fur ball off her lap. "Not the right time!"

Sting blinked at the two for a second and asked, "How many times?"

"Uhh," Lucy started ticking events off her fingers "Phantom Lord twice, Umm during the GMG for the Eclipse Gate, and the Infinity Clock thing… That's it right? I guess if you count what happened during Alvarez you can add a one or two more... I bet Yukino has been kidnapped the same amount because of her celestial magic."

"Uh. Once, maybe," Sting replied.

"Wait… Nope. I was kidnapped by Zeref and Mavis two days ago," Lucy added as the memories of the last few days washed over her.

"Lucy is a magnet for trouble," Happy snickered again. He then turned serious when Lucy looked like she was about to kick him. "But really, Lucy, can you really blame your nakama for being worried about you being on your own. It was, what, two and a half years, if you don't count Tenrou, that you were in Fairy Tail and you were targeted at least five different times!"

Lucy grit her teeth, "If they were so worried then why didn't they stay with me? Why couldn't they move on with me too?"

Happy couldn't help but say the obvious, "Because you erased his memory, Lucy. Natsu was your next step." The little cat wanted to be angry at her and he was to some degree. He had told Charla how many times that he loved her before she was willing to admit the same… Lucy cheered him on each step of the way. What Natsu said was hurtful, but by erasing his memories was running away. Especially because Happy knew for a fact that Natsu hadn't meant a single word he'd said to her that day. So he told her so, "You know he just said those things. He never thought that way about you."

"P'fft. Zeref claimed the same thing," Lucy brushed off the sincerity in Happy's words. "But you know what, neither of you were there. Neither of you saw the loathing that covered his face as he argued with me."

Sting was sure that Happy and Lucy had forgotten he was still in the room because when he spoke up, they both jumped a little. "How do you know, Happy? That he didn't mean what he said, I mean."

"I'm his best friend, of course I know," Happy retorted like it was the most obvious thing.

"But did he say something to you?" Sting quested.

Happy got mad then, "How could he have said anything to me if stupid over there erased his memory before the dust even settled." Happy pointed accusedly at Lucy.

"What about before then?" Sting continued. Maybe Happy just hadn't been aware of his friends feelings. It wasn't like Sting spent time discussing his feelings with Lector.

"No. But I could just tell! Natsu always wanted to be the one to save Lucy!"

Lucy rolled her eyes at this, "Natsu would have done the same thing for literally anyone who was in the guild. He treated everyone with the same familiar intensity."

Happy sputtered, but realized he couldn't really prove her otherwise. She was right. Even if it had been Max who had been sucked into the Infinity Close, Natsu would have raided the place with the same tenacity he had when it was Lucy. If any other member of Fairy Tail had come back in time through the Eclipse Gate to warn them about the dragons… And then had died in front of Natsu, Happy knew that the same promises to protect the future would have been exchanged.

Perhaps the tediousness of repeatedly save the same stupid blonde over and over again HAD actually gotten under Natsu's skin. This thought made Happy uncomfortable just thinking about it. Had Lucy actually become a burden to his fire dragon friend?

"Your right," the cat answered, defeated. "It wouldn't have mattered who it was as long as Natsu thought of them as a friend, he would have risked everything to save them."


	24. Chapter 24

Natsu threw his shovel to his side and wiped the sweat from his brow. The mother dog, who he had named Liz after Lisanna, and her pup, still unnamed, were sitting nearby as he prepared the grave for the ones in her litter that didn't survive. It turned out that a part of the smell coming from his pile of dirty, bloody clothes were the decaying corpses of three puppies. The sight of which had caused Natsu to sob like a small child.

He knew he would have to keep digging a couple more feet down so that the wildlife near his home wouldn't come sniffing around and dig up the babies. But for now he needed to take a small break. Natsu was about to plop down on his butt and rest when he remembered he should probably change out the water his clothes were soaking in. Very few shirts had been salvageable, most had been ripped beyond his capability to repair and others were too stained in blood for him to be comfortable wearing again. Having the nose that he did meant that he could still smell that crap even if the clothing looked clean.

Natsu sighed heavily as he headed to finish off the mundane chore, leaving Liz and her pup behind near the grave site. Minutes later, Natsu had a his clothes moved to a fresh tub of water. Most of the staining was gone, so this time he had heated the water and added soap and began the tedious process of scrubbing. He was kind of glad so many items of clothing had been ruined beyond repair, it cut down the amount of actual cleaning to just one tub full rather than the six or so he started with.

He would have to make a trip into the town dump to drop off his trash after all this cleaning was done. Then maybe he'd drop by the guild to see if Lisanna was around. He felt like he never had the right opportunity to catch up with her after she returned from Edolas and wanted to make up for some of that lost time. He had spent some of the previous night trying to remember what he had been doing all that time, but there seemed to be holes and fuzzy spots that kept him from fully understanding it all. It was odd, his memory just seemed to skip over parts. Like there was this one memory where he had a vague impression of fighting a monster who was eating planets, but for the life of him he couldn't get a clear focus on it. Like perhaps it was a dream he had once rather than a memory at all.

Scrubbing his laundry proved to be the perfect time to ponder such things. Maybe he could ask Lisanna about it at the guild later. He drained the tub he used for laundry and moved it to the back of his house so he could hang everything on his line. He bent, grabbed a vest, and started wringing it out. He watched boredly as water dripped off the cloth and fell to the ground. He would be standing in a puddle by the end of this. He hated wet feet. He wiped the vest out to help smooth the fabric before he raised it up to clip onto his line to dry.

He repeated this process a few more times before it happened. He was pulling out a pair of pants and getting ready to wring them out when he saw a flash of gold out of the corner of his eye.

"What?" Startled, he looked up and chased a head of gold with his eyes. It was like looking at a phantom of some sort, a ghost of that curvy blonde, Lucy. She seemed to be hanging clothes up on a phantom line. Her body pantomimed getting clothes out of a tub, wringing them out and hanging them. Yellow hair shined in midday sun, sparkling like golden dust. Her hair was the most solid looking aspect of the phantom. Suddenly, he could hear her giggle and then laugh as her body reacted to something happening around her. The sound was familiar, like he had heard it a million times. Then she was running in circles, hand up and trying to guard from some sort of attack… And then she was gone, like a wisp of smoke carried away in the breeze. Her laugh hung in the air and slowly faded.

Natsu blinked a few times. He dropped the pants back into the wash tub and rubbed his hands over his face, "I'm losing my damn mind! Nothing like this was happening until the other day. Hell." Why was so much in his brain revolving around that girl? From what he saw yesterday at the guild, people seemed pleased to see her go, so why was he feeling so uneasy about it? Why was he seeing phantoms of her in his backyard? Why was doing something so domestic, like laundry, making him feel nostalgic for a damn celestial mage who didn't matter!

He kicked the wash tub feeling angry. (The poor wash tub and clothes landed in the branches of a tree 100 yards out.) He had absolutely nothing to do with that mage since she had joined the guild, as far as he was concerned, and now suddenly it was like she was everywhere. "Shit!" He yelled. The frustration in his voice startled the crows out of the trees nearby and they caw'd their displeasure.

Right now, Natsu wasn't sure what exactly he was frustrated about. He felt like he was missing something, that was frustrating, sure, but there was something more than that too. He was also frustrated that now all these strange things were happening to him, the mage in question had disappeared. Sure he knew where she went, but the fact was that it was no longer convenient to be near her and figure out what was happening to him. He wasn't convinced, yet, that he had forgotten anything. Right now, it felt like someone had tried to inject someone else's memories into him and his brain was having trouble sorting them all out. But who else would have a memory of Lucy in his backyard doing his laundry?

This was all Happy's fault. And Happy was with Lucy.

* * *

"Hi Master," Mavis giggled happily. Zeref was leaning over her shoulder to see the communication lacrima that sat on their kitchen island. He wrapped his arms lazily around her tiny frame and waited to see what the Master of Fairy Tail needed of them. He hoped the old geezer had come to his senses about planning an operation to get Lucy back to the guild.

It could be Operation Kidnap Lucy part 2: Project Stardust. Yeah. He liked the sound of that.

"Have either of you had luck researching the shadow problem at the guild?" the wizard saint asked.

"No Sir!" Mavis cheered. She was in an exceptionally good mood this morning. Zeref knew that it mostly had to do with not having to hide so much now that Fairy Tail knew they were alive. She had been getting cabin fever over the last few months.

"Has something changed?" Zeref asked, seeing a worried crease appear in Makarov's brow.

"It would be easier if perhaps we showed you. When are you next passing through Magnolia?"

Mavis placed her pointer finger on her chin and tapped it as if she were thinking deeply. "Well, I guess we could come now, if you want."

"Really, the sooner the better. The shadows… Let's just say that the guild hall doesn't feel safe anymore."

Zeref's eyebrows raise up into his hairline, "Not safe? It's just shadows, they can't hurt anyone without a shadow mage there conducting them."

"These shadows are different. It puts some credit to Bickslow's theory. You'll see when you get here."

The lacrima when quiet and Mavis turned to share a look with her other half. "What do you think could be happening?"

"I can't know until I see it. He looked kind of disturbed, didn't he?"

Mavis nodded in agreement.

"Do you know any shadow mages in Fairy Tail?" Zeref asked. "It might be handy to have one around."

"No. We could ask for assistance from Rogue in Sabertooth if we need."

"Should we tell him that we are living IN Magnolia?" Zeref asked smirking slightly as Mavis cast an illusion over both of them. He stood and started towards the front door, and Mavis followed behind him, slipping on sandals before closing the door behind them.

"Nah! Not yet at least."

"Maybe never." Zeref smiled softly.

It was only a five minute walk to the giant Fairy Tail guild hall in the middle of town. The two lived in a small house to the west of the guild in a housing development that specialized in normalcy. Pristine two story cottages, white picket fences, magnolia flower beds, and large magnolia trees. They walked quietly together hand in hand enjoying the warm breeze and the fresh flowering scent that traveled through the air. This area of Magnolia was their own piece of heaven and neither of them were ready for Fairy Tail shenanigans to disrupt the peace.

When they reached the guild, Makarov was standing outside the doors. Mavis noticed a large poster plastered over the hall doors. The poster read, "Building Closed for Repairs, Take All Requests to 17 Summeray Street".

"You closed the guild down Maki?" Mavis questioned.

"It is just a precaution. Laxus should be here soon. I would have asked Gray, but he is refusing to go back in at the moment." The master sighed like he was struggling under a heavy burden.

It wasn't even a minute later that Laxus walked up to the group, forgoing his normal method of travel for once. He looked at Zeref and Mavis strangely, not recognizing the two with Mavis's illusion magic disguising them. Realizing the problem, Mavis released the spell, though the knowledge of who they were didn't change the look on Laxus's face by much.

"Let's go in then, shall we. See what we get," Makarov unlocked the giant doors with a ridiculously tiny copper key and then pushed the doors open. The four entered. The devil slayer ice magic was dull along the walls, blocking windows and light sources, and leaving the hall dark. Makarov lifted a light lacrima from his pocket and set it to glow brightly. The illumination only increased the deserted hall's creep factor because, now, the shadows were visible. Their writhing bodies shying away from the light as they flickered across the walls, changing shape, claws scratching against ice covered barriers, hissing, screeching .

"Well this is certainly interesting," Zeref commented. He didn't shy away from the shadows behind the ice, but instead walked up to a wall and seemed to press his nose against the Shadow Container Gray put in place. He peered through the ice and watched intently as figures squirmed across the wall. He observed has one shadow seemed to pull at others around it and gather to peer back at him.

"And the void looks back," he mumbled as he continued to watch unperturbed.

The shadow figure forming in front of Zeref seemed to look around at who all entered their domain. A head-like appendage swiveled as if to get a look behind the dark wizard's body a the others. The shadow reacted rather violently after it's gaze swept over the four wizards. Suddenly limbs of all shapes and types raged against the ice causing loud thumping sounds as it crashed again and again against the barrier. Then it was screeching loudly, desperately, which seemed to motivate more shadows to join themselves to the larger one causing the ruckus.

Zeref took a step back moments before the shadow was able to crack the ice that had held it at bay. The screeching, which had been muffled slightly before, now blasted through the mages' ears like a bell had been rung. Then static filled the air. Zeref looked back at Laxus, but found that the mage was unusually still with absolutely no magic emanating off of him. When he glanced back at the crack in the ice he suddenly realized where the static charge was coming from. He quickly stepped back to join the others and then felt frozen to the floor.

Having been through something like this before, Makarov spent more time trying to observe what was happening. Before he had been struck with terror, but now he was curious. The shadow was behaving differently than when Gray was here. The shadow seemed to spark as it slipped through the crack. The spark jumped around erratically before the part of the shadow free of it's confines formed a rather solid looking arm and a long set of claws. The arm flailed with too many joints and sparked as it clawed at the crack, attempting to create a larger opening. Once achieving its goal, thunder echoed loudly through the ice covered walls and a black, twisted line of lightning struck the middle of the guild. The lightning continued to stick, flowing from the space behind the cracked ice until the a form took shape.

Makarov expected to see another version of Lucy, but instead he was looking at a small, sparking dragon-esk creature. It opened its jaws and roared. A chain, must like the one Shadow-Lucy held when Gray was here, split from between the creature's lips and fell on the floor. Each link in the chain looked like a bolt of lightning had been hammered out and bent into shape. The whole thing sparked and crackled with enough static charge to make the mage's hair on their necks and arms stand on end.

"Interesting," Zeref commented.

"Is that Laxus's magic?" Mavis pondered.

"No way!" Laxus shouted. "That thing's got nothing to do with me!"

As if his declaration held some kind of significance, the shadow-dragon convulsed, dropping to the ground as if it was having some sort of seizure. The shape the creature had been holding collapsed in on itself and a screech could be heard like the thing was in pain. Rising out of the writing puddle of dragon came a head, features slowly becoming defined before shoulders, arms and torso, and legs appeared. Shadow-Lucy was back. The chain of lightning was wrapped around her, going across her shoulders and then down to wrap snugly around her waist before trailing off her hips and down to the floor.

"I-is that?" Laxus started to ask.

"Lucy," his grandfather finished. "Her chain was made of ice when she appeared before Gray."

"Really?" Zeref asked. Makarov nodded as best he could with how little control he held over his body.

Shadow-Lucy's head cocked to the side as if she was listening to their discussion. Her ear on her right side pressed against her shoulder, and her hair, which was down this time and not in twin tails, brushed against her arm down to her elbow as it cascaded behind her in smokey strands of black.

Her head seemed to be stuck that way and when the shadow-Lucy tried to move forward, only her lower half moved at first. It was like her spine was broken just above her hips, letting her upper half stay behind her lower half by a foot. It seemed like the chain of lightning was the only thing that held her top half onto her bottom half, but the chain wasn't stiff, the Shadow-Lucy did now have the muscles to keep her top upright now that her bottom walked away. Her top fell backwards so that the creature was folded in half. An annoyed hiss echoed around the hall as it started to turn itself around so that it could see the mages present.

"What the hell is this?" Laxus cried out. "Why can't I move? Why can't I blast that thing into ash?"

"It does seem weird. I cannot move either," Zeref replied. "Was it like this with Gray?"

"Lucy's appearance was different, but otherwise the same. We couldn't move or use magic. We just had to stand here until the Shadow-Lucy seemed to run out of steam."

The folded backwards Shadow was now facing the group again. Her neck was still crooked to the side, but her ear was no longer attached to the shoulder like before. Her arms dangled down to the floor, elbows just barely brushing against the wood grain. She stayed that way for a moment. Eyeless holes stared towards the mages. Laxus swore that her gaze focused on him, and despite himself he was filled with dread.

The static on the chain the wrapped around Shadow-Lucy jumped and arched wildly as the creature's elbows bent back the wrong way, and its hands, now elongated claws, twisted and crackled to become a new set of feet. Faster than seemed logically possible, the Lucy creature scurried across the floor like a demonic spider, stopping directly in front of Laxus. Its head craned around to look up at the dragon slayer.

"Hssssss broke-ken!" the shadow's voice was cracking like radio static. "Youshhhh brock-oke it, La-xussss." The chain of lightning sparked wildly, hitting off the floor and ceiling, but never touching the mages. "Pa-pathhhhsssss-tick," the shadow said, annunciating the last part of the word with a click of its shadowed tongue, which then rolled out of its mouth and flopped against its forehead before curling back up.

"FIX IT!" This time the voice coming from the creature was recognizable as Lucy's and she sounded like she was in so much pain. "WHY? FIX IT!"

The creature then collapsed. Limbs sprawling out over the floor before melding back into a single form. As soon as the shadow fell to the ground, the mages could move freely.

"Fuuuuuuck!" Laxus found that his hands were shaking and brought them up to rub through his hair. "What the hell is that thing?"

"I think you're right, Maki," Mavis sounded serious for the first time that day. "This is proof of Bickslow's theory. The Shadows are manifestations of Lucy in some way. You said when Gray was here, the Lucy-shadow-thing had a similar chain but it was made of ice?"

Makarov nodded. "She said something similar to Gray too. 'You broke it, Gray. Fix it.'"

Zeref moved to where the de-formed shadow puddled on the floor. He bent and attempted to touch the shadow. His hand went through it and the shadow seemed to turn to mist where his hand attempted contact. "It doesn't seem to have a solid form at the moment. Did you feel the magic it was using?"

"It was Lucy's Celestial magic," Mavis said.

"How can you tell?" Laxus asked.

Zeref huffed, "After all the battles you've had with her, how can you not?"


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: Sorry! I know this is a short update after being absent for a week! Hope you enjoy anyway!**

* * *

Lucy was scrolling through job postings on the lacrima system she helped Sting set up. To make it easier for mages to find jobs at their level or that involved specifications that matched their magic, jobs had been entered into a database and tagged for key requirements, magic, or mages requested. Level had been created and each job was assigned a level based on Sting, Rogue, and Rufus's research. The Levels were B (Beginner), A (Advanced), T (Team Required), AT (Advanced Team), S (S-Class), or ST (S-Class Team).

Sting had purchase the system from a guild in Bosco whose guild master was particularly gifted in mixing magic with technology. Lucy and Rogue had been tasked to reading and understanding the three inch thick instruction manual that came with the system. Tireless nights and some trial and error lead to a smoothly running system that allowed mages to log in, see jobs within their level and interest, sign up for said job, and then mark the job complete upon return.

Lucy had been approved for B, A, T, and AT jobs. So when she logged in to the Sabertooth system, a compiled list of jobs that were at her approved level were listed. She opened a filter and checked to see if any jobs required a Celestial mage, when nothing specific showed up, she changed the filter to see if any of the jobs showed a reward of a Gate Key. Only one job was left in her list, it was marked A for Advanced. She selected it to read the description. Basic monster hunt: "Large, ugly beast causing local hunters to disappear in the woods. Investigate and resolve."

The forest was to the west of Crocus. A small village that was practically unknown and on the edge of a mountain range known for housing Wyverns. The reward was 500,000 Jewels plus the Gate Key. There wasn't anything listing what type of Gate Key it was, which was normal. Usually customers didn't know enough about gate keys to give too much of a description. She had once taken a mission where they key they had was simply a replica of one of the Zodiac Keys. It had been disappointing, but a neat souvenir.

Lucy tapped on the lacrima to view how soon the customer needed a mage. They were requesting someone to show within the next two weeks, which was doable, so Lucy accepted the job request. A notification in the form of a automated video message was sent to the customer on their communicator indicating that their job had been accepted by Lucy.

"Wow, that system is so cool, Lucy!" Happy cooed while hovering just over her shoulder. He had been oddly silent as she went through the process of looking up a job, but now he seemed super excited about the whole process.

Lucy smiled at the blue cat and felt a sense of achievement. "Rogue and I get it set up! It tracks a lot of data about the jobs posted and how they were completed."

"How does it do that? Does it visually record the jobs you do?"

"What? No! That would be creepy!" Lucy shivered at the thought of having a flying lacrima camera following her around on missions to record and archive everything she did. "We have a form that we fill out on job completion." Lucy pointed to another lacrima that was set on the other end of the bar. "That system is where I'll go when I complete the job and will have to fill in a questionnaire on how the job went."

"Oh! That's so cool!" Happy did a loop in the air to show his excitement before landing on top of Lucy's head.

"Oi cat! Watch it! You're pulling my hair!"

"Sorry Luce," Happy said.

Lucy froze. That was the first time someone had called her 'Luce' in months. Since Natsu. A shiver of awkward and painful nostalgia wracked though her. She didn't like it. She didn't want to be called that ever again.

"Um, Happy?"

"What is it?" that small cat wondered. He could hear a tinge of sadness and uncertainty in her voice and wondered what could have upset her.

"Could you call me 'Lucy' or 'Lu' from now on?" Lucy asked quietly.

Happy was off her head and hovering in front of her face in an instant. "But Natsu always calls you Luce, why can't I?"

Lucy looked pained, "Isn't it obvious why?"

Happy thought about it and the conclusion he came up with made him sad, "You don't want to be reminded of him, do you."

"No, I don't," Lucy admitted. "He is free of me, now, right? I need to work on being free of him too, I guess. I need to move on. That's why I'm here in Sabertooth."

Happy frowned and in one of his rare moments of insight replied, "I don't think he will ever be 'free of you', Lucy. Natsu may no have access to his memories of you, but I know there are parts of him that will never, can never, forget you."

Lucy huffed, "I don't want to hear this right now. Natsu is happy, right?"

Happy nodded.

"Then the rest doesn't matter. He is happy and now I am trying to move on to be happy too. Natsu doesn't need me. And I am learning to not need him either."

Happy couldn't help how sad hearing this made him feel. While he couldn't argue the fact that perhaps Lucy had been a bother to Natsu, that had been proven earlier in the morning, he couldn't help but feel a sense of wrongness with the two of them a part like this.

Suddenly a warm arm fell across Lucy's shoulders and a fur lined vest tickled at Lucy's cheek. "You never needed him Blondie!" Sting said confidently and playfully squeezed her shoulder before dropping his arm. After their conversation earlier he had made a decision to do what he could to help Lucy move forward. He couldn't force her to change the actions she took in the past, but he could help her rebuild a life in Sabertooth.

"Of course she needs Natsu!" Happy admonished the guild master. "They were partners! You can't just walk away from that!"

"Hah!" Lucy couldn't help but laugh. "This guy breaks it off with his partner at least once every two weeks when they argue over petty shit!"

"Speaking of Shadow-dick, have you guys seen Lector this morning? He spent the night with Frosch and I haven't seen him come down into the guild yet."

"I saw him head into the library," Lucy answered.

"Whaa?"

"He was chasing Frosch, who was chasing a bug, I think," Lucy clarified.

"Gotcha! Thanks," and Sting was off.

Lucy watched him go and chuckled.

"Hey Lu-chan!" Yukino called.

Lucy smiled and waved back at the white haired, sweet faced mage. Lucy was about to walk towards her fellow spirit summoner when her gut wrenched uncomfortably. Her hand instinctually went to rub at her stomach worried that she was starting to get sick. The feeling faded, however, so the celestial mage ignored it and went to join Yukino at the table she now occupied with a serious-looking Rogue. Happy flew ahead of her and landed on the table and started to excitedly yap about how cool the lacrima job request system was to Rogue, who smiled kindly at the compliments thrown his way by the blue cat.

Before she could join her furball friend, her stomach twisted painfully and this time her magic responded to the feeling with a surge of energy that washed over and through her in an unsettling motion, not unlike sitting in a wave pool. The pain she had first experienced in her gut moved upward towards her chest and Lucy gasped as the intensity of it as she fell to the floor, landing harshly on her knees. Lucy tried to react to the sudden upheaval of her magic, quickly trying to form some sort of mental barriers to trap her magic and keep it from releasing. But the force of it was like a tornado and her magic stormed against the barriers she created, breaking them to pieces before she even had them constructed.

The whirlwind of magic overwhelmed her so completely and soon it was leaking out around her creating a gust of power that swirled dangerously outward and pushed tables full of people back and away from her epicenter. The pain she felt in her chest made her think that her magic might be ripping her in half in its effort to escape and so she screamed, unable to hold it back any longer.

Suddenly all of her gate keys activated and her spirits were standing amongst the tornado of magic unaffected by the windscape it created. Then the gates were forced closed and again moments later, forcibly ripped open. This time even Yukino's keys were activated and her spirits were thrust into the maelstrom of power erupting from Lucy. This happened a few times before the gates stayed activated. Yukino's spirits tried to escape to their respective summoner, but found that they were stuck within the magic circles of their gates. Libra attempted to cast her gravity altering magic to force Lucy into the ground, but found that she could not reach her own well of magic. The mother and son duo of the Pisces Zodiac were similarly enraged as they pounded against an invisible barrier that trapped them in place and prevented them from reaching their scared celestial mage.

Lucy's spirits, were not faring much better. Even Plue was taking it upon himself to push and shove against the magic circle that had them trapped. He scraped his drill-like nose against the magic circle's lettering in an attempt to break whatever spell Lucy had unconsciously cast. He shook violently as all of his attempts failed.

Lucy's screeching came to a halt as words she had no control over spilled from her lips, "Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic! PATHETIC!" The word was mumbled at first, but then each restatement of the phrase was ripped from her throat with heightening aggression until she screeched it louder than anyone believe possible. "Fix it, fix it, fix it! LAXUS BROKE IT, FIX IT!" Again her voice started at a mumble before she roared Laxus's name and for him to fix it.

For a microsecond, everything froze. Her magic glittered in the sunlight that was beaming through the guild windows making the air shine golden and silver. Her hair, which had been blowing wildly in the storm of magic, now stood frozen, on end, half whipped around her face. Her face was a portrait of pain and fear. Her mouth was still open in a silent scream. For a moment the Celestial World opened up above the motionless mage showing just a hint of the Spirit King staring down at the phenomenon in awe before time sped forward to make up the difference. Lucy's arms spread wide as the last of her magic burst out of her to force close the gates and also the rip between worlds before she fell back, unceremoniously cracking her skull on the floor.


	26. Chapter 26

Sabertooth was in chaos. Sting had barely made it to the doors of the Library before he had been swept off his feet and slammed into said doors by the tornado of Lucy's uncontrolled magic. He spent a majority of the time she was out of control trying to pry his body from the door so he could see what the hell was happening. However, the force of her magical release had his face planted firmly against the wooden doors until he heard the crack of her skull when she hit the floor.

When Sting was finally able to face the guild hall, he found that he was one of the lucky ones. Orga, who had been walking through the hall to the bar, had been slammed through a window when an empty table had soared across the room, caught up in Lucy's magical output. He was nursing a dislocated shoulder from trying to grab onto the window frame in addition to over a dozen spots were shards of glass had either scraped his skin or embedded into his flesh.

Rogue was holding a table up with his back while Yukino and Happy huddled beneath him. It looked like their table had been pushed up against the wall before flipping over, threatening to smash all three of them. It was lucky Rogue had been there, or else Yukino, and especially Happy, would have been severely injured. Sting figured Rogue would be sporting some pleasant bruising on his back from standing against the pressure of Lucy's magic. Sting watch as Rogue's body trembled while he pushed the table to the side. He then collapsed from exertion, which caused the uninjured Yukino to fret over the fallen dragon. Happy took this opportunity to fly over to Lucy with tears streaming down his cheeks.

Sting hadn't needed to see Lucy to understand that she was the epicenter of the event, but now that Happy was high tailing it to the celestial mage, he finally gazed in her direction to take stock of her condition. There was a lot of blood near her head and the pool was getting larger by the second.

"Shit," Sting cussed as he visually assessed the mage. His gaze roamed around the room more and noticed that very few mages had actually been caught in the magical storm. He new that when he walked in this morning there had been plenty of guild members roaming about and sitting down to eat, so where were they now? His question was answered as the library doors swung open and their residential territory mage strutted out followed by a line of people who she had apparently warped to a safe space during the whole debacle.

Seeing as a majority of people were safe and the two with the most severe injuries were Lucy and Orga, Sting relaxed the tension in his shoulders before jogging over to the blonde idiot bleeding out on his floor.

"Luuuushie! Wake up!" Happy was crying out as he cuddled up to his friend.

Upon closer inspection of the unconscious mage, Sting knew that he was out of his depth. Not only had she expelled nearly all of her magic in one giant break, but her head injury was more than worrisome. The guild healers were not miracle workers like the sky dragon slayer the Fairies had, or the sky god Lamia Scale claimed. He was fearful that Lucy would not survive whatever just happened without immediate help from one, or both, of the sky healers.

"Minerva!" Sting shouted, and the dark haired mage was at his side in an instant.

She knelt down beside their fellow guild mate and felt the same panic Sting was emitting as she gazed at the growing puddle of blood. Without the guild master needing to ask, Minerva immediately used her magic to turned the space around Lucy into a kind of status shell to preserve her life.

"Dobengal, call Fairy Tail and Lamia Scale. We need Chelia or Wendy here as soon as they can spare them. Tell them Lucy will die otherwise," Sting commanded. His voice was strong despite his body beginning to shake in nervous fear as he continued to gaze at Lucy's form, now coated in Minerva's magic. What it the status shell wasn't enough? He was just getting used to the blonde mage.

Dobengal was gone in a puff of smoke as he teleported to the Sting's office to call the guild masters. In his absence, Orga hobbled his way to the guild master and asked, "Is this what the old man meant by Tiny's magic being unstable 'cause, Holy Hell." His good arm cradled his shoulder which was hanging oddly at his side.

Rufus seemed to appear out of nowhere behind Orga and stated, "I have to agree. That was a bit… more than just unstable." Of course the masked memory mage had managed to catch the whole ordeal at a safe distance from the second floor lounge, where he had been reading.

Yukino called across the guild, "My spirits are in an uproar, my keys are on buzzing with it. How was he able to activate their gates like that?"

Minerva made hard eye contact with Sting, "Just how broken is she?"

Sting rubbed his hands through his hair and and over his face. He hated how in the dark he was. "I don't know! Fuck this is frustrating. This was way more intense than what I felt happen earlier this morning."

"What happened this morning?" Rufus demanded.

"I'm not sure, but I thought she was under attack or something. Her magic had built up like it does when she casts that planet spell of hers…" Sting waved his hand around while he tried to come up with the name of the spell, "Uranus Metric or whatever it's called."

"Urano Metria," Yukino supplied from her spot across the room. She had moved Rogue's head into her lap. The poor slayer was still passed out.

"I checked her room, but she was alone with Happy," Sting continued, unfazed by Yukino's interruption.

"Have you ever heard of a celestial mage opening so many gates at once before?" Rufus questioned Yukino.

"No! It's rare for one to be strong enough to hold two open at once."

"How much magic is needed for two gates to be held open, Yuki," Rufus continued his line of questioning.

"Well, for Lu-chan and I to accomplish it, we had to unlock our second origin. There is so much that goes into celestial magic, it is hard to explain an exact amount of magic required for any one thing."

"Do your best. I need a basis for comparison here."

"Okay. Well. You need the initial magical burst to open a gate. Depending on the spirit will depend on how much magic is used. For example when I open Polaris's gate, I use about the same amount of magic it takes to turn on the job request lacrima. When I opening Libra's gate, however, it is one thousand times that. Once the spirit is called forth, there is a steady drain on the mage's magic to keep the gate open. Also, any magical attacks completed by the spirit while here are supplemented by the mage's magic. So, depending on the magic attack used by the spirit will depend on the amount of magical drain on the mage." Yukino took a deep breath. Celestial magic was more complicated than most people thought and took a lot more magic and talent than other magical types.

"I have more respect for you now than I did before," Minerva mused as she listened in to Yukino's explanation.

Yukino rolled her eyes in response before continuing, "So opening two gates at once, especially Zodiac gates, is a tremendous magical drain. Lu-chan has also mastered Star Dress, though, which essentially has given her a third origin. She can not only keep two golden gates open, but she can directly connect to her spirit's magical supply in the celestial world through a third gate she opens within herself. She can then basically duplicate the spirit and give herself a power up. In essence, because of her Star Dress forms, she has unlimited access to Celestial Magic when she activates a Zodiac gate inside herself."

"So the amount of magic she just released…" Rufus prompted.

"Is immeasurable to the amount she could potentially release, considering her abilities," Yukino finished.

"So in comparison to, say, Rogue, was what we saw here equivalent to Dragon Force?" Rufus wondered.

Yukino pondered this, "I guess if Rogue was to release all of his magic while in his Dragon Force at once, it would have been similar? I don't know. I haven't seen a dragon slayer do something like that before."

"Well. Shit," Sting muttered. He was going to have to talk with the Master of Fairy Tail in a bit more detail. His eyes stung as he focused on Blondie. He hair was stained with the red of her blood. If she died because they withheld information from him there was nothing in the world that could stop his wrath.

"Laxus is on his way with Wendy," Dobengal reported after appearing in a puff of smoke behind Sting.

"Thank you. Minerva, can you move her up to the infirmary?"

A crack of thunder and a shock of lightning striking the floor next to Orga announced the arrival of Laxus with Wendy in toe.

Happy flew to Wendy and grabbed at her pigtail, "Wendy you have to save Lucy!"

The tiny blue haired mage gazed around spotting Lucy inside Minerva's status field. Wendy looked like she wanted to ask questions, and a flash of anger washed over her face before she masked the feeling and her jaw set with determination. "Take her to your infirmary, now! Show me the way, let's go."

Minerva nodded and Lucy vanished, "Follow me." Wendy nodded and the too ran for the stairs to second floor. Sting watched them go, wanting more than anything to follow and make sure his guild mate would be okay.

"What happened to you?" Laxus smirked as he eyed Orga.

"Lucy happened," Orga glared back before pushing past Laxus and heading to the infirmary. He would need help popping his shoulder back into place, not to mention the shards of glass that still stuck out of his arms and torso.

Laxus's eyes bugged as he watched the larger than life god slayer hobble away. He shook his head to clear it, realizing that the negativity from Fairy Tail was still clinging to him.

"Shit," Laxus's mind was jumbled, but now that he was further away from the angry Lucy-Shadow in the guild hall he felt like he was slowly becoming more like himself.

Sting could no longer hold back, "You son of a BITCH!" He yelled as his hand glowed white before he struck Laxus across the face. Said lightning mage was pushed back before he stumbled. "What the hell did you guys do to Blondie to BREAK HER," He punched at Laxus again and kicked a glowing foot into Laxus's chest. He went to strike again when Laxus caught Sting's arm and threw him to the ground.

"What did we do?" Laxus answered. "I'm pretty sure Fairy Tail isn't the one that had to call for help because they almost killed her on her second day in the guild." Laxus was grumpy. What the hell was Sting's problem anyway.

Sting sat on the floor and glared up at the lightning dragon. "She is almost dead because her magic went fucking berserk. Or don't you remember how you specifically called to warn us that might happen? That you damaged her soul," Sting spat rudely at the taller man's feet.

Laxus winced.

"Yeah, pretty fuckin' sure Sabertooth had nothing to do with what happened today."

Laxus took the time to finally observe the guild hall he was standing it. Tables were smashed up against the walls, some flipped over, and others broken and in pieces. The windows looked like they had been blown out. There were guild members will minor cuts and scrapes covering their faces and hands, probably from blocking some sort of debris from hitting them. He noticed Rogue laying passed out on the white-haired chick's lap.

Laxus sighed and combed his fingers through his spikey blonde locks. He had still been in the guild hall with Gramps wondering what the hell was going on there when they got called about Lucy needing help. He wondered if the two events were connected. Zeref had mentioned that Celestial Magic was at play in the guild.

"Tell me what happened," the Fairy Tail mage demanded of Sting. Two pairs of blue eyes met, holding an intense glaring contest before Rufus stepped in to answer.

"Here, let me show you," Rufus beckoned.

Laxus raised an eyebrow, "What? Are you going to beam it into my head or some weird shit?" He backed up a step, not fully trusting a Saber to be anywhere near his brain.

Rufus let out an amused chuckle, "While I wouldn't mind getting my fingers in your hair to prod at that beautiful brain… No, we have a lacrima surveillance system that should have recorded what went on."

Laxus was unsure if he was being hit on. Freed was a little more obvious about his affections, but Rufus was coy and secretive. Honestly, Laxus was positive the two were meant for each other, but now wasn't the time. He followed Rufus through the double doors set to the back of the main guild hall commons and entered a library. "Blondie must love it in here," He commented quietly.

"Indeed," Rufus answered simply. "This way, we will see what the system was able to record. Of course with the amount of magical interference thrown around by Miss Heartfilia, there is no telling if the devices picked up anything at all."

* * *

In the infirmary, Wendy was gritting her teeth as she forced herself to focus on dealing with Lucy's head injury and not the fact that Minerva, the woman who had nearly killed Lucy in the Grand Magic Games, was hovering over her shoulder. Why was Lucy in Sabertooth anyway? Had they taken her? Wendy winced, as the thought hit her. The tiny sky maiden hadn't been around the guild much, maybe if she had taken Lucy with her on her and Romeo's last mission… No! She needed to concentrate.

She focused on the wound and chewed on her lip. Lucy's skull had fractured and her her brain was swelling. If Wendy couldn't reverse the problem quickly, than the spirit mage was going to have lasting brain damage. Dammit! Wendy focused and pushed her magic to it's limited to sooth the swelling in Lucy's brain. It took longer than she anticipated, but she believed that she caught the injury in time. The blood which had been leaking freely from Lucy's skull was clotted now, but Wendy would need to take a break before she mended the bone.

"Do you keep any blood on site for transfusions?" Wendy asked breathlessly. "Her blood levels are fairly low, it would help if we could get her more."

Minerva blinked at the small dragon slayer before answering, "Um, no I don't think so. My blood type is O negative, I'm a universal donor. Can you give her some of mine?"

Wendy's eyes bugged, "Yo - your's?"

Minerva rolled her eyes, "Well don't just sit there, Lu need's blood, get to it!"

Wendy yipped in response as she scurried around the infirmary searching for the tools she would need to start a transfusion. Her magic had been enough to stabilize the mage, but she could not create blood out of nothing. Soon, Wendy had put together a make-shift IV. First she would pull a liter of blood from the demanding territory mage, and then she would set up Lucy to receive the blood.

Wendy prepared to insert the IV needle into the inside of Minerva's elbow, "Um, this will hurt a bit."

"Just get it over with," Minerva sighed, her eyes closing and her head tilting to look away from the needle.

Wendy carefully placed the needle into Minerva's vein and began the process. "Um, thank you for this," Wendy whispered.

Minerva looked at the healer with curiosity, "Lucy is my nakama now… it is only natural for me to help her."

"I don't understand, what is Lucy doing in Sabertooth anyway?" Wendy couldn't hold the question back any longer.

"You don't know that she left Fairy Tail?"

"She WHAT?!" Wendy half yelled. "Lucy would never leave Fairy Tail! Fairy Tail is her home!"

"Not anymore, it isn't."

"What about Natsu, he wouldn't have let her leave!"

"Do you honestly think that I believe you don't know anything that has been going on?" Minerva answered, unhappy with the line of questioning.

Wendy looked over at Lucy's unconscious form. What had been going on while she was off with Romeo? It was then that Wendy noticed Lucy's empty right hand, her eyes widened. She grabbed at the hand and turned it over and back again as if the Fairy Tail guild mark would suddenly appear. But the hand remained blank. It was then that she caught sight of the navy blue Sabertooth mark on the front of her shoulder.

"When? When did she leave Fairy Tail?"

Minerva rolled her eyes at the child's question. "The first time she attempted to leave was months ago, five maybe? She officially left Fairy Tail yesterday, though."

"She tried to leave more than once?" Wendy questioned quietly, shock coating her whispering voice.

"I can't answer that. I just know when she first showed up here asking to join."

The two drifted into an uneasy silence as Wendy stared definitely at the Sabertooth mark on Lucy and Minerva relaxed in her chair waiting for the liter of mark on the blood bag to be reached.

A half hour passed. "Hey, I think the bag is full," Minerva stated.

Wendy jumped to attention, "Sorry! I guess I was lost in thought." The short girl quickly stopped the IV and removed the needle, placing a pad of gauze over the injection sight and taping it down.

"Thank you, Wendy, for helping Lucy," Orga chimed in. Finally stepping into the infirmary. He had waited at the door while Wendy had begun healing Lucy and then stayed put as M'Lady and the tiny slayer conversed. Their silence was charged enough that he didn't want to step into the room until the situation had been defused.

Wendy jumped at the new voice almost missing the vein in Lucy's arm were she was preparing to place the IV. She turned to see who was thanking her and stood fearfully as she recognized the crazy green hair of the god slayer.

"Um, you're welcome," Wendy flushed. Then the injuries covering the tall brute in front of her registered in her brain, overriding her fear, "Oh my, you're injured! What happened? Let me get this IV set up and then I'll get 'cha healed up!" Wendy motioned to one of the other examination tables before turning back to Lucy.

Orga obayed with no complaint.

"I'm surprised Sting hasn't run up here yet," Minerva mused.

"Nah, I'm sure he is too busy trying to crack open Laxus's skull to…"

"Laxus is with Rufus reviewing the security footage," Sting cut in. "Bastard had the gall to say that this was our fault. Wendy, was it? How's she doing?"

Wendy finished taping off the IV on Lucy's arm before facing Sting. "She is stable. She needs to replenish her blood supply," her hand motioned to the IV stand that was now set with a bag of Minerva's blood. "Her brain was swollen and her skull fractured. I have reversed the swelling process, but I needed to rest before mending the bones. We caught the brain injury in time to prevent any lasting damage, although we should check when she wakes just to make sure."

"Her magic?" Sting questioned.

"She nearly died from magic depletion, but while I was working on her brain injury, her reserves started filling back up, almost forcefully," Wendy puzzled over that fact before continuing, "She might be tired for a few days, but I think she will be fine."

Sting, too, pondered how quickly her magical reserves had seemed to fill. He wondered if it had to do with Lucy's Star Dress ability. Could she keep a gate open within herself ever after losing consciousness to refill her own magic? Sting didn't think that would be possible. Even when Titania passed passed out, her requip magic faltered and returned her to normal. No way was Lucy stronger than the Fairy Queen. Right? The Sabertooth Guild Master walked over to Lucy's bedside and brushed his hand against her cheek. Her hair was now stiff with the browning, dried blood still mixed with her golden strands. The thick dreads looked like uncoiled snakes and he chuckled as he pictured a Lucy-Medusa.

"Let me know if there is anything else you need," Sting commented to Wendy as he made to leave. "I'm going to catch up with Laxus."

"Thanks," Wendy chirped. "Now, Orga, is it?"

The giant nodded.

"Let me see what I can do for you," Wendy got down to business, pulling out glass shards with tweezers, stitching together wounds that went deep, and finally popping the man's shoulder back into place with a strength neither Sabertooth mage were surprised she had.

"Can I get something to eat?" Wendy asked as Orga stretched his shoulder, testing her healing capabilities out. "Once I fuel up, I think I will be ready to heal Lucy's bones back together."

"Sure kid," Orga smile. "I'll bring you up something. You like ham?"

"Yeah!"


	27. Chapter 27

"Lucy Heartfilia," the demon pondered. "You're sure she's the one who fixed that bastard END?"

"I cannot lie to you sir," the servant answered, lowered onto his knees, face planted on the ground in front of him. The servant was shivering from the cool, damp air of the sewer tunnel. He couldn't see his master, it was too dark in the space they now occupied even if he face wasn't currently lowered in the filth of the city.

"Hmm," the demon hummed in thought. "She accepted the job request, but it says she is in Sabertooth. I thought you said she was a Fairy like he is."

A boot smashed down on the servants back forcing his face to into the sewage, giving the poor man a mouthful of something awful. "If I find that this isn't the right girl, you will not live to see the light. Why was your information wrong?" The boot crashed down a second time onto the servant and man couldn't stop the gag and heaving that prevented him from answering the master. The servant wretched, vomiting up his meager portion of bread and ale from breakfast.

"I don't kn-know, sir, I sw-swear!" the man coughed and gagged again, his stomach heaving once more. "But the picture is the same girl. The one you chased away. She is the one you seek. END's girl!"

The boot came down one more time before leaving his back. The servant's nose was crushed under the forced and he now gagged on not only the sour, foul taste of sewage, but the blood that ran in streams down his face over his mouth and chin, dripping down into the waste covering his body.

"Did the auto-message tell you when she would arrive?"

"N-no, s-sir. It just s-said to expect he-her soon, sir," the servant replied. His nasal passages broken, causing his voice to change in pitch. His tongue felt heavy and useless, making him stutter. The servant hated his master, hated that he had been caught and forced to grovel at this things feet. It wasn't even a man, nor mage. Not human in the least. This demon, one of Zeref's mistakes, was an abomination. If he could somehow warn the Celestial Mage, tell her not to fall for his tricks, he would give his life for the chance.

The demon scoffed, "How much longer must I degrade myself to act like a fuckin' beast. This little mage of yours better be here soon," the servant shuddered as a light briefly came in through the drain above and shined on the shark like teeth his master sported, showing a wide grin. "You won't like me much if I get bored waiting." Then the demon laughed as the servant coward before him. For good measure, the demon kicked the man in the side once, then twice, finding the pitiful whimpers the human produced to be hilarious. He cackled. Everything would be going his way.

Soon he would have the girl.

Soon he would be complete.

Soon END would have nothing.

* * *

After picking up and hanging his laundry to dry, Natsu finished digging the grave for the deceased pups, giving them a small ceremony and a stone to mark the place where they rested. He stood staring at his house debating his next move. He wanted to go after Happy. He felt unsettled that his best friend would leave the way he did. Especially for a girl that Natsu couldn't remember interacting with Happy even once.

Another part of him wanted to ignore the weirdness and just go hang out with Lisanna. Maybe they could get a job to go on together since Happy was MIA. Maybe he could ask her about the blonde haired, curvy, celestial mage who seemed to be haunting his thoughts. _No_! Natsu shook his head. He would NOT waste valuable time with Lisanna asking her about the wildflower scent that he couldn't get out of his nose. _Fuck_! Natsu scratched at his scalp as if he was trying to scrape the thoughts of the blonde out of his mind.

He huffed in irritation and headed inside his cottage. There was still more cleaning to do, but that was the last thing he wanted to concentrate on. He set to pacing trying to work through what to do next. His home wasn't gigantic by any means, just comfortable enough for him and Happy. He loved the space and how it merged with nature, allowing him to feel the freedom of the outdoors without having to suffer through the cold or rain. Feeling comforted and calmed by being in his own place, Natsu stopped his rapid pacing long enough to glance over his memory board hung on the wall, realizing that he had a bunch of new things to add to it. He grinned. Happy and he had been in and out so often and for so long he hadn't had the opportunity to just sit and take care of the items he gathered on all their adventures.

With a new goal in mind that allowed him to escape from his wild thoughts about Lucy, Natsu skidded over to his pack and started dumping out the side pockets where he'd kept the job requests and souvenirs he gathered over the last few months. There was a purple stone from a village he and Happy found that specialized in gems. Then there was the job request that went all kinds of wrong when they were ambushed by vulcans high on their equivalent of Catnip in the middle of the night. The memory made him shiver in distaste. Vulcans lost most of gender preferences and inhibitions when high, apparently. It had been a rather rude wake up call to find one of the giant ape creatures sniffing at his crotch.

A few more items fell out, including a claw from a monster they totally decimated, a mummified rabbit's foot that was supposed to bring good luck, and a feather from a yet identifiable bird. He grinned at all the different keepsakes and happily gathered them together and carried them back to his memory board. He would have to build a new shelf for the items, but at least he could pin up the job request. He took an extra pin out from the corner of the cork board and was getting ready to place the new request when a word caught his eye. He quickly pinned the new request before investigating what he thought he saw. His eyes narrowed and glared at the small note pinned to the job request for stealing Daybreak.

"First job I performed with Lucy..." he read allowed. There was a clenching feeling in his chest and then a searing pain ran through him from his head to his feet. His eyes fell to a maid uniform that was hung on a mannequin and he could see _her_ in it. Smiling at him as she playfully called him master. Then like an explosion snippets of images streamed through his mind making him squeeze his eyes shut. The view of the outside world and the images flowing through him proving to be too much visual stimuli for his brain.

But there she was, standing in front of the Everlue mansion talking to the pink haired gorilla about getting a job. Then she was holding that damned book to her chest refusing to let him burn it. Then she was gone and when he saw her again that damned balloon of a duke had her pinned. Then their client was holding the book and magic was flowing around the room and around her as the book rewrote itself.

When the images stopped, Natsu was breathing hard and unable stand up right after a wave of vertigo washed through him. When his muscles stopped clenching form the pain and his breathing was finally settled, Natsu felt like he had been hit by a train while riding on magic mobile. He was going to vomit. He barely crawled his way to his bathroom toilet before he was upchucking his breakfast into the porcelain god. What the hell was happening to him. Maybe he could have Wendy take a look at him at the guild. God, his head hurt. He fell back to lay on the bathroom floor, feeling a bit shaky after emptying his stomach so forcefully.

He must have fallen asleep like that because the next thing he knew he was being woken by Liz licking his face and whining. He sat up and pat her head to make her calm down. She licked his nose one more time before leaving him in the bathroom. He turned to glance out the bathroom window and was unsure if he should be relieved or not. The sun shone mid afternoon light, which either meant he'd slept on the bathroom floor all night and part of the next day, or he had only been passed out for a few hours.

Either way, his decision on what to do next was made. Guild first. Happy later. He needed answers. So the yawning, pink haired fire dragon stood carefully from the floor. He grabbed another rabbit he had stored in the fridge and put it out for Liz to eat before leaving for the guild hall.

In typical Natsu fashion, he ignored the sign plastered to the Fairy Tail guild hall doors and kicked them open gearing up to announce his presence to all, "I'M BAAAA - aaa - ck. Where is everyone?"

At his rude appearance Zeref, Mavis, and Makarov turned to stare down the dense fire-breathing idiot named Natsu. Zeref was wearing a funny pair of spectacles with varying magnification lenses attached to them. Mavis was taking notes on observations made by the black haired wizard, and Makarov was using a ice pick to break through some of Gray's purple demon slayer ice.

"Can't you read!" Makarov shouted at the dumbstruck Natsu.

"What? Of course I can! What the hell Gramps!"

Natsu was preparing to enter the guild hall, raising his foot to step passed the threshold when Zeref yelled, "NO NATSU! Don't come in the guild any further!"

Natsu of course ignored this. "Like I'm gonna take orders from you. I'm here to kick your ass!" His problems with visions of Lucy were temporarily lifted from his thoughts as he focused hard on the dark mage. He stepped into the guild lighting his fights on fire, "I'm going to pound you to pieces you …." But then he froze. They all did as the shadows reacted violently to Natsu's appearance.

Faster than either of the two times before, a mass of shadows swarmed near a fissure in the ice and slid through. A screeching like nothing heard before echoed around them and there was no doubting the pain that was hidden deep within in the cry. Like the beginnings of a storm, clouds of shadows massed over the guild ceiling as the puddle of smoking shadow sliding through the crack started to congeal into something more solid. Before anything else had a chance to form, chains of shadow-fire burst from the core of the gathering storm above them, spike-like ends planting themselves deep into the guild floors. Unimaginable heat filled the hall and Makarov feared for the first time that these Shadow-Lucy's might actually be able to harm them.

A roar, not unlike that of a dragon echoed across the empty space of the hall as the congealed shadows on the floor twisted and pulled at each other, writhing in a dance not unlike that of the flames in a fire. Then a shadow-arm shot out of the mass, the hand twisted around backwards as it failed to find purchase. Another arm shot out, bent at the elbow as the palm slammed down onto the floor. The flailing arm struck the floor with force as the glob of shadow shifted, twisted, and danced.

The shadowed chains of flame flared. Bits of shadow licked at Natsu's face and for the first time in his life he felt what it was like to be burned. He wanted to do something, but it was impossible to fight against the force holding him still, holding back his voice, keeping his magic at bay. All he could do was watch as the arms that had landed on the floor twisted horribly as they planted themselves in order to pull the beginnings of a torso out of the writhing mass of shadow-flames. He wanted to vomit again as he realized the torso was headless, but also that the shadow-skin that coated the being seemed to be melting off and dripping back into the larger mass. It was unsettling. He'd fought against a lot of mages and monsters in his time, but never had he seen skin melt. Burn, yes, but melt. He shivered in disgust.

Zeref was just as locked down as Natsu. In a way he was grateful he was able to observe this phenomenon for a second time, but he was similarly revolted at the sight before him. The beginnings of a leg, bent at the knee and positioned as if the shadow were crawling out of a hole, or maybe a swimming pool, was materializing. The shadow-flesh seemed to be ripped apart, and as the leg gained stability to stand, he saw that a chunk of flesh was hanging loose from the shadow-creature's bone. Then the other leg came into view, and it was nothing but bone. He wondered where the shadow's head was, but his question was answered when the shadow bent over and pushed the remaining shadow mass on the floor together, shaping it, before lifting the mass and placing it on their shoulders. It was another Lucy. He hadn't recognized it at first because the torso had been bloated and torn. But her shadowed face was an immaculate replica.

Makarov was worried about how close the shadow of flames were getting to Natsu. He could see a hint of pain and confusion in the boy's eyes and wanted to find a way to get him out of here. This Shadow-Lucy wasn't going to make any sense to the poor slayer now that his memories were all messed up. The master gritted his teeth, seeing that was all he could do while waiting for the ordeal to end.

Mavis wondered why the Lucy-shadow seemed to change so much each time it appeared. Did it have to do with who triggered the reaction? Why didn't Makarov, Zeref, or herself trigger a reaction but Gray, Laxus, and Natsu did? This version of Lucy looked like she had been attacked by a volcanic beast who had been able to simultaneously tear her to pieces and melt her all at once. It was a grotesque display. She wondered if this shadow somehow mirrored Lucy's pain? Is this what she felt when she thought about Natsu. Mavis couldn't even imagine what that must be like.

Her thoughts were interrupted when this new Shadow-Lucy spoke, "Awaoou…" The attempted speech was so hindered it was hard to tell what was being said. The shadow being then coughed, gagged, choked, and heaved until it spat something out into a melting outstretched hand. Mavis's eyes widened in horror when she realized that the shadow had just spit out a tongue. Her fear and horror was confirmed as the shadow stretched it's jaws open, unhinging it to widen her gaping maw before her melted fingers stuffed the tongue into place and her jaw snapped shut.

"Natsu," the shadow spoke clearly now. The smile that appeared on the shadow's face was entirely contrary to the visual of her ripped and mutilated body. Her smile faded as the shadow fire flared so hot the the mages currently trapped felt the sweat on their bodys evaporate as searing heat kissed at their skin. Only Natsu was actually touched by the shadow flames and his face was contorted with pain.

"Obligation…," Shadow-Lucy whispered, her beautiful face displaying a frown. "Burden…." Her forehead creased. "No-not wan-want-ted. No one. No nakama," the whispering continued so quietly that those who were not blessed with dragon senses could hardly make out what was being said. When Zeref did catch a whiff of the words he realized the shadow was repeating different points from the argument she'd had with Natsu.

"Too fa-at. T-too heavy. Sl-slow." The whispering suddenly gained volume into a shriek as the chains shook and rattled sounding like thunder, "WEAK! TOO WEAK!" The storm of shadows circling the ceiling screeched in answer to the Shadow-Lucy's pain. Suddenly the chains snapped, and the now freed ends whipped around the room slamming against the walls, staircase, left-over tables and benches, but worst of all they snapped against Natsu, whose pain was made silent by the magic holding him in place.

"I LOVED YOU!" the Shadow screamed, the sound reverberated around the room making the mages' ears buzz. A wind whipped across the room viciously and it tore the mages out of their paralysis, spinning them around, before flinging them against the guild walls.

Makarov had enough higher brain function to notice that the Shadow-Lucy dissipated after that. He also noted that she didn't add on her signature "fix it" like she had for Laxus and Gray. Did she not want to fix what went wrong between her and Natsu, while she did with Laxus and Gray? She did erase his memories after all. Maybe her resolve was to leave things be, but even so, her decision didn't erase the hurt and pain she felt from the separation.

Natsu groaned from the ground where his slightly charred clothes smoked, and the Master could see red patches of blisters lining his face, arms, and stomach. He couldn't believe his eyes. The idea of Natsu being burned by any kind of fire was completely ridiculous to him. From the corner of his eye, Makarov could see Zeref stumble to his feet and limp to help a fallen Mavis who lost her balance when she first attempted to stand on her own. The raw power that had been released by the Shadow-Lucy still hung in the air like the humidity before a rainstorm. It felt heavy and uncomfortable. The searing heat from the shadow-flames was slowly, very slowly, dissipating and as the air cooled, the master finally felt like he could breathe again.

Makarov slowly rolled over to his stomach and pushed himself up to his feet. He felt like a total wreck, and he slowly hobbled over to the prone Natsu, who he could hear hissing in pain between short breaths.

"Gramps," came Natsu's shallow voice, "what just happened? Was that… Lu-Lucy?" The fire mage gasped as skin burned with a pain he had never felt before. Makarov could see the young mage clench his jaw as he tried to beat the pain he was feeling to keep talking. "Why am I seeing her everywhere I go?"

Makarov raise a brow at Natsu's question, "She left for Sabertooth, Natsu, you can't be seeing her everywhere."

Zeref and Mavis had made their way over to the fire mage now, both leaning on each other after their forceful marriage to the wall.

"It was different this time," Mavis stated.

Makarov nodded in agreement, "No demand to fix it."

"Did you feel the amount of magic that accumulated this time, it was at least double compare to when Laxus was here," Zeref observed. "And did you notice how much faster the shadows gathered and took form?"

"All interesting observations, but I believe we need to get medical attention for Natsu here, some of these burns are third degree. Damn shame that we Wendy just left."

"What! Wendy's gone again?" Natsu exclaimed. "Call her back! She has to heal meeeee," Natsu whined. "I need her to check my heeeaaaddd…"

Zeref cocked his head to the side, his specticals, which were now broken, slipped off his face and hit the ground. He ignored this happening, however, and instead asked, "Why do you need your head checked?"

Natsu just glared at the mage in question. Zeref huffed, "Oh grow up, little brother! I am just concerned for you."

"How about we continue this discussion at Magnolia Town Hospital. I'm not sure how long the Sabers will need Wendy," Makarov said as he expanded his body into giant size and hefted the downed fire dragon up, who shrieked in pain as the Master brushed against his burns.

"I will be interested to find out what happened to Lucy," Zeref mused. "I wonder what was so critical to have them calling for the Sky Dragon?"

The master and a now illusioned Zeref and Mavis walked out from the guild, closing the doors behind them, and then head to the Magnolia Town Hospital.


	28. Chapter 28

Saying the infirmary was destroyed was putting the state of the Sabertooth guild hall lightly. The infirmary walls had been blasted a part in the explosion and Sting's office, which was right above the infirmary, had partially collapsed into the room. Somehow Lucy managed to remain mostly unscathed throughout the ordeal, though no one was sure how.

Their first warning something was about to go down was when Yukino gasped as her keys heated up unexpectedly at her hip. Her spirits were screeching through their connection to warn her to get down, which she did after yelling the warning to Sting, Laxus, Minerva, and Orga and then tackling Rogue to the floor of the library. Thankfully, Wendy had taken a break from watching over the Celestial Mage to discuss and display her Sky Magic with Rufus out on the training grounds. The memory make mage felt that memorizing some of Wendy's spells for future, similar debacles would be necessary.

The sonic boom as brick, stone, and bits of seared medical supplies exploded from the infirmary not only shook the guild hall, bringing down book shelves and decorations as the walls quaked, but was enough to cause an avalanche in the nearby mountains. Wendy and Rufus got the brunt of the debris as the window and corresponding wall of the infirmary faced the training area. Wendy sported an ugly gash to her arm from the glass and a bruise was forming on her back from where a chunk of brick smacked into her when she pushed Rufus down and out of the way. Rufus had some road rash on his side from the force of the small dragon pushing him over plus a few glass related scrapes that managed to cut through the fabric of his pants.

The others who had been in the library were suffering more from the sound wave than from anything else. The debris had mostly gone over their heads, thanks to Yukino's warning and Minerva using her territory magic to warp things away from them when anything came close. Those who were unlucky enough to be in the guild commons had head and body wounds created by bricks being tossed at them with tremendous speed and power. There was a lot of confusion. At first no one could tell if they were being attacked or not and chaos ensued as Laxus jumped over fallen mages to reach where the ex-beloved Light of Fairy Tail rested. Sting had been hot on his tail wondering if someone had come after the injured girl or if another episode of her magic going wild had occurred. Rufus and Wendy were running into the guild asking what happened and if Lucy was okay, while injured guild members were standing to gain some sort of defense from the possible invading army. Those with less injuries were headed out the front doors to see if they could see if someone was attacking.

"I knew I should have just grabbed her and taken her back to the guild," Laxus growled under his breath as they approached the infirmary. The path was mostly blocked from rubble falling down from the ceiling to clog up the staircase.

"Over my dead body are you taking one of MY guildmates back to that hell hole you call Fairy Tail," Sting spat as he turned to take a running jump up to the second floor balcony, trying to beat the lightning dragon slayer to the infirmary to ensure he didn't attempt to take HIS nakama away. Sting ran down a hallway, using his White Dragon Roar to clear a path straight to the infirmary door.

Laxus was sparking in rage at Sting's words and roared a bath of lightning up the staircase, incinerating any and all debris in his path. He sprinted up the stairs only for more of the ceiling to start collapsing down on top of him. He batted the falling stone from his path and rushed out onto the second floor landed. God he wanted to zap that Saber bastard when he realized he'd beat him to the infirmary, or at least what was left of it, which happened to be the doorway and floor. The walls had all been blown out, the ceiling was collapsing, and Lucy was sitting up in her cot staring wide eyed and crying.

"Wha-what's w-wrong with m-m-me," the girl whimpered as Sting used varying amounts of acrobatics to traverse the room and make it to Lucy's side.

He gathered her up into his arms and held her head against his chest as her tears continued to pour down silently. "Nothing is wrong with you, Lucy," Sting whispered into her hair. "It's going to be okay, we will get this figured out."

"Di-did I hurt anyone?" she asked quietly and then hiccuped a quiet sob. "Yo-you probably want me to le-leave t-too, ju-just like they d-did."

Laxus felt his heart clench and his chest restrict. The guild had really messed her up, he realized. How had she ever come to believe that they didn't want her? But his brain provided him with a vivid reminder of why. Pathetic. I called her Pathetic and told her to get out.

"No, Lucy, we need you here. You are our Nakama now," Sting was cooing into her ear as he held her. He rocked her back and forth, not loosening his grip as the celestial mage sniffled and shook against him. Sting couldn't help the glare he sent over his shoulder at Laxus who was now hovering beside the miraculously standing door frame.

"Lucy…" Laxus whispered. He wanted to go to her, his head finally cleared from the weird negativity that surrounded the Fairy Tail guild hall. But he hesitated after hearing her broken voice asking if she had to leave. He hesitated more when he vividly recalled the Shadow-Lucy screaming at him to fix it and he had no idea how or even what he was supposed to fix.

At the sound of his voice the blonde looked up from Sting's chest and noticed the lightning mage standing in the wreckage looking lost. "Why are you here?" Lucy asked softly. Her voice was steady, but she hiccupped again and buried her face into Sting's shoulder.

"I came with Wendy. You had a bad head injury," he replied, his voice matching the softness of the spirit mage. "She was able to heal you… What…" his hand raised to reach for her, but he was too far away and he was scared to get any closer. He teared up seeing the blonde in such a state. Bickslow had explained more to him about her soul the previous night after everyone had left the guild. Laxus felt like a total ass for causing her so much pain, for being a catalyst to an event so horrific to her soul that she no longer could control her magic.

Laxus was having trouble meeting her honey-brown gaze as his eyes blinked to hold back the emotions leaking through. "God I'm so sorry, Blondie," his voice cracked as he said the words and his legs gave out as her broken, empty eyes met his blue gaze. He was now on his knees and he wanted to beg for forgiveness. "I don't even know what came over me that day…. You know, you know I believe in you. What I said…. Gods! I can't even wrap my head around what I did to you."

Sting's glare intensified and he couldn't hold back his anger, "What you did to her? What you did, according to your guild master, was break her SOUL, Laxus!" Sting couldn't hold back the white glow that coated him as his scales threatened to dig their way out of his skin. He usually had complete control over his Dragon Force, but right now as he held on to a broken Lucy, his dragon soul was rearing to be let loose.

"My soul is broken?" Lucy questioned. "Master Makarov told you my soul was broken?" This was news to her. No one bothered to tell her what was wrong, but they told Sting? She pushed back from the glowing slayer and met his gaze.

His anger vanished as he met her brown orbs, and he wanted nothing more than to comfort her and reassure her. "They called me on the train yesterday and told me that Bickslow seemed to think that your soul was broken and it could cause problems with your magic," he explained. "I wasn't trying to keep it from you, but there was just so much other information that we were collecting about what went down I wasn't sure how to bring it up. Then you lost control, then you were injured, then you blew up the building…." Sting scratched at the back of his head. "I guess I didn't get a chance to bring it up."

The guild master looked sheepish and Lucy, being who she was despite however broken she became, couldn't stop the small giggle that bubble up at his explanation. "I didn't blow up the whole building, baka," she teased.

"Hah! Just the commons and half the second floor… Oh, and my office if the piles of papers, desk, and chair are anything to go by."

"Shit Blondie," Laxus muttered, "what kind of training have you been doing?"

Brown eyes turned on the lightning slayer and he was scared that he had once again said the wrong thing. He hoped that she understood he was impressed. Her eyes were scanning his features intensely, following the tear tracks down his checks, observing the dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep, and taking in the sadness reflected in his sky blue eyes. Then she beckoned him to come closed with a wave of her arm, motioning that she wanted a hug. The hulking man was on his feet and at her side in less than a second. He didn't even care that when he wrapped himself around the petite woman he also was hugging the White Dragon who had refused to let go of his guildmate.

Connecting with the blonde physically made Laxus feel a warmth in his chest that he didn't realize was missing. A soft golden glow surrounded them and he could see a ghost of the lightning chain Shadow-Lucy had held laying broken between them. Was the chain their soul link? Was that what she needed to have fixed? But how? The broken chain links hovered near each other, but there were pieces missing and even as the two ends tried to meet, there were gaps that could not be closed.

"Blondie," Laxus whispered, "how do I fix this?" his hand released her long enough to indicate the broken chain between them. He felt like he finally understood what was happening at the guild. The Shadow-Lucy with the lightning chain….

Lucy looked down to see what he was talking about, "Eeep! What is that?" She attempted to back away from Laxus, but was thoroughly stuck in place between Sting and the hulking man, neither allowing her to escape their hold.

"What are you guys talking about? I don't see anything there!" Sting huffed annoyed. "And let go of me, Sparky. I don't swing your way."

Laxus glared at the white dragon, but didn't move. "The chain, I think, represents our soul link that broke when I …"

"Called me pathetic? Pushed me on the ground?" Lucy offered. "Why do we have a soul link? Did you create it? What for? Is it a dragon thing?" She turned to look at Sting to observe his opinion on the matter.

"I still don't see what you two are talking about. There isn't a chain anywhere in here."

"I don't know exactly. Bicks seemed to understand what was going on. He said that just about every member of Fairy Tail had a soul link with you. He said most, if not all, were snapped when you left."

"So it isn't a dragon thing, just a Lucy thing?" Lucy sniffled and her shoulders slumped. Her tears had stopped, the new topic distracting her from the destruction around them and the drain she felt in her magic reserves. Just one more thing she failed at while in Fairy Tail. She looked at the chain between them and saw how Laxus's side was straining to reach her's, but the broken end of her chain hung limply in the air, indecisive.

Lucy let go of Laxus and the chain disappeared between them. There was a part of her that desperately wanted that chain to be repaired and for everything to go back to how it was before Tartarus pulled everyone a part. But the rational part of her mind, or maybe it was just the depressed darkness that festered there, reminded her that going back was impossible. Nothing could ever be the same. Her choices were permanent. Lucy of Fairy Tail, the Light of the guild was gone. This truth, as she saw it, didn't bring her sadness or pain, instead there was a numbness that surrounded her heart.

"Come back with me Lucy, please," Laxus pleaded. "Fairy Tail isn't right without you there."

Numbness turned to anger. "No," she responded immediately and vehemently. "Go back with you? Are you serious right now?"

Laxus felt like he had been struck and his arm that had still been wrapped around the small mage dropped. He gaped at her for a moment. He was sure that if he just asked she would come. This was Lucy. Lucy was forgiving to a fault. She loved Fairy Tail and was the embodiment of the guild. Her leaving had to have been a fluke, the result of a hurt girl waiting for someone to bring her back. Right?

"Of course I'm serious. The guild needs you back. We need to resolve all these soul links so everyone can go back to normal!"

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say. The dark aura the surrounded the girl was enough to even scare Sting off from gripping her. "Oh, so I'm just supposed to give up what I have, crawl back to Fairy Tail so I can fix everyone else? And then what? Huh? Will that 'fix' me too?" the blonde spat, seething. "No."

"What? That isn't what I meant…"

"Yes it is! You just need everyone else to be fixed. You don't want me you just need me. You don't care about me, none of you ever did. I am done with Fairy Tail. Tell Wendy I said thank you." Before anything else could be said, Lucy silently requested a gate jump from Loke back to her apartment, which was thankfully not at the same end of the building as the infirmary. She had remembered before bed the previous night to draw the appropriate magic circle under the rug in her living room so she would have the choice to skip over the guild commons on the first floor in the future.

When she appeared in her room, Loke was there too. They glared at each other for a few moments. Lucy knew exactly what he would say, but she was too hurt still to entertain the idea of going back. Nakama or not, they way they had left her behind…. She was not ready to just 'get over it'. Not yet. The conversation transpired between them without a word needing to be spoken out loud. The lion spirit closed the distance between them and enveloped his mage into a lion-hug.

"When you're ready, you will have to face them again. Having a soul as fractured as yours isn't healthy, Lucy."

"I know. I just can't yet. It is too fresh."

Virgo opened her own gate, dull eyes looked onto master and spirit's embrace, "You could have fixed the link with Laxus today, Hime-sama. Why didn't you?"

Lucy flinched. "You were watching that?"

"Of course, Hime-sama. We all were. Punishment?"

Lucy rolled her eyes, "No Virgo."

"I think you should answer her Lucy," Loke chided. "I was wondering the same."

"I left Fairy Tail. I'm not the Light of the guild, I'm nobody. What would be the point?"

Loke and Virgo shared a look.

"You should sleep," Loke said as he started to push his mage towards the bedroom of her apartment. "If it weren't for your connection to the spirit world, you would have died from magic depletion."

Lucy frowned but complied. "Do you think they will let me stay?"

Loke sighed, saddened by his mage's insecurity. He wasn't sure what to answer. Sting telling her that she could stay was one thing, the reaction of the guild once they realized Lucy had destroyed so much would be another. "Only time will tell," was the best answer he could give.


	29. Chapter 29 (Updated)

**A/N: Just a short chapter on what Gray was up to :-D**

 **A/N # 2: I made some edits to this chapter! I guess writing when you are half asleep isn't the best plan. Sorry! ^^**

Gray had been sitting in the corner of the old guild hall bug-eyed and silent since he arrived after performing his Ice Devil: Shadow Container spell. Juvia had approached him a few times to see what had happened, but his trance-like state would not be broken. It was only when Juvia panicked and asked Erza for help that the ice mage blinked for the first time. Erza's predatory aura surrounded her as she slapped Gray hard enough that he flew out of his chair and into the nearby wall.

Gray moaned, "What the hell, Erza!"

"You made Juvia cry," was the initial reply. "You've been sitting over here like a zombie since this morning. Tell me what happened at the guild." The scarlet haired warrior glared at her old teammate. "Why was it closed this morning?" She picked Gray up by his hair, as his shirt was missing, and eyed him suspiciously.

"Shit Erza, put me down!"

"Talk!" She punched the dangling mage in the gut, knocking him out, before throwing him back to the ground annoyed. She wasn't used to being left out of the 'know' in the guild. She had been their master for a short time, after all, she deserved to know what the hell was happening. "Dammit, Gray, wake up!"

"Erza," Jellal's voice was stern. "He can't talk if you knock him out."

The requip mage huffed indignantly, "He should be strong enough to not get knocked out." Her eyes sent a challenge to her boyfriend, daring him to contradict her.

Jellal was exasperated. The impatient woman he had loved since childhood was worse with people than he was, which was saying something considering he had been possessed for more than half his life and lacked any true experience. Jellal put on his Crime Sorciere Guild Master face, the one he used when he needed to put Cobra back into line, and pointed to a bench, "Go sit and wait for Gray to wake."

Erza stomped away and Jellal smiled weakly at Juvia who was currently beside herself with worry over the knocked out ice mage.

Levy popped up from behind Jellal, "Hey Juvia, I'll help you carry him to a table."

Juvia smiled softly, "Thank you Levy-chan." The two women grabbed under Gray's arms and dragged him towards the nearest table. Juvia used her water magic to lift Gray's unconscious body up to the height of the table and then the two rolled him onto the wooden surface. The table they had chosen happened to be the one Gajeel declared his own, so their actions were met with a crimson eyed glare and a grunt of disapproval.

"Couldn't'ya taken him to some other spot," the grouchy iron slayer muttered.

"All the other tables are pretty much full, and I don't want him back with Erza, she'll just knock him out cold again," Levy reasoned.

"T'ch."

It took another 10 minutes for Gray to return to consciousness. The raven haired ice mage groaned as he opened squinted eyes. "What the hell Erza," he growled as he flipped onto his stomach and rolled off the table top and onto the vacant bench opposite of Gajeel. Gray palmed his stomach trying to rub out the discomfort. He nodded in greeting to the iron dragon who was feigning sleep across from him.

Said dragon grunted in response and then muttered, "Pansey."

"Whatever iron breath. You know you would have cried if she hit you that hard."

"T'ch."

Erza was up and angrily glaring down at him the moment she realized he was no longer knocked out cold. "Talk. Now."

Gray rolled his eyes. She acted like he was from a Dark Guild and was withholding information about Lu...Lucy. Gray frowned at his internal monologue. In a way, he was harboring information about the ex-Fairy Tail member. He heaved a sigh as his table was suddenly surrounded by mages who were all curious as to what went down at the Guild Hall that morning. He felt lost on what to say. _Lucy has creepy shadow versions of herself haunting the guild? Urgh._

He scraped his fingers through his hair and then rubbed his face. The vision of a broken and contorted, naked Lucy, whose bones snapped and cracked like ice as she screeched for him to fix something, swam just behind his eyes. He shivered. He didn't know if he could give the experience justice. He also didn't know if he was supposed to talk about it. What he did know is that the entire guild would descend on the building if he opened his big mouth and mentioned anything about Lucy. It was odd how just yesterday they had all seemed glad that she was leaving, yet now, they seemed to be morning the loss. He couldn't quite figure out what that meant or why it had happened.

"Look. I don't know if I'm allowed to talk about what happened yet…"

"Unacceptable," Erza shouted. "As a previous guild master of Fairy Tail, I demand you tell me what happened."

"Yeah, PREVIOUS guild master, Erza," Gray emphasized. "You know I should wait until Gramps comes back before I say anything." Gray turned to see all his guild mates surrounding him. There were too many factors he had no clue about. He couldn't just give them partial information and hope that they wouldn't fly off the handle.

Erza's eyes narrowed at her old teammate, showing her level of annoyance at his defiance of her will. Making a decision on the matter, she grabbed the back of Gray's pants, fingers gripping his belt since his shirt was still MIA, and dragged the ice mage from the bench.

"Make a path!" Erza called to the rest of the guild as she began to pull Gray from the building. "I will interrogate this one elsewhere."

Gray felt like a toddler as Erza held him up by the rump of his pants and toted him out of the guild. He would have complained, but he didn't feel like getting punched again. He noticed Jellal followed them out, but everyone else stayed put. Either they had lost interest or they were just as terrified of the Monster Requip Mage as he was. The later was probably more of the truth. Jellal was the one exception, but that was because he was banging her silly every night.

They left the guild, but Erza didn't stop carting him around until she had walked the distance to the apartment she and Jellal now shared, a mile and several blocks away. He would have complained, but honestly what was the pont.

He was thrown unceremoniously onto a couch in their font room. "Now. Talk to me. You were acting strange after coming back and Master didn't come with you. What happened," and suddenly Erza the terror was Erza the concerned teammate. He wondered about that. Why was she acting so hostile at the guild?

"You have to promise me something first," Gray said.

"That depends on what you say."

"You will NOT go in the guild hall unless Gramps tells you it is okay," Gray stated.

Erza glared at him while Jellal settled into a chair nearby, listening, but not participating yet. "Why?" was her response.

"Because I don't have any information about what is going on and I'd rather you not experience what I did."

Erza seemed to contemplate this fact. Her features softened and he knew she realized he was just wanted to protect his nakama from something horrid. The powerful mage nodded in consent to the promise and Gray let out a breath.

"So, you know the shadows everyone was seeing at the guild?"

Erza nodded, "It was just something to do with the clouds or something, right?" She was confused about what harmless shadows had to do with what had Gray looking like he'd faced death.

Jellal mumbled, "They were strange, hardly anything normal, Erza."

Erza gritted her teeth. On some level she had known that, but she refused to believe that Fairy Tail could be taken over by something so dark. It was just unnatural. She nodded at Gray to prompt him to continue.

Gray scoffed at Jellal's comment, "Hardly." How was he supposed to tell Erza that the shadows were somehow manifestations of Lucy? Erza had, at least at one time, thought of Lucy as a sister, someone precious. He wasn't sure if that was the truth anymore, considering the way Erza had basically chased the blonde away. Not like he'd done anything better. He didn't feel comfortable talking about this. It was like he was airing Lucy's dirty laundry. It didn't feel right.

"When I went to the guild to try and find a way to contain the shadows, we observed them trying to rip themselves off the walls. My ice devil slayer magic didn't really do anything to them but put another barrier between them and us."

"So they aren't demonic manifestations?" Jellal questioned.

"If they were, my magic would have cleansed them."

Jellal nodded. He had theorized that Zeref had been plotting something against the guild, but if the shadow's were non-demonic then it was less likely a Zeref related plot.

"They shadows… They... " Gray ran his hands over his face again. This was harder than he thought it would be. He gathered his thoughts and started again, "Some of the shadows escaped my barrier and started to… solidify?" he wasn't sure if that was the right word for it. He hadn't touched the shadow, so he had no idea if it had been solid or not.

"They took a form?" Jellal tried to clarify.

Gray nodded.

"Well, what did they look like," Erza pushed, getting restless at the pace his story was going.

"They joined together to make one shape. They… God! It was Lucy, OK? The shadows turned into some creepy, broken version of Lucy."

"Impossible! Lucy wouldn't leave that kind of darkness behind!" Erza firmly denied his claim.

"Lucy?" Jellal questioned thoughtfully.

"Yeah, Lucy. She was naked and boken. Her joints kept breaking to bend the wrong way… It was honestly the scariest thing I have EVER seen. Plus, that thing somehow managed to keep me and Gramps completely immobile while it screamed at us about how it was broken and needed to be fixed."

"Wha? Even the Master?" Erza muttered. "But Lucy couldn't have done that? What magic even could?" she glanced at her boyfriend for guidance.

"What did the shadow what you to fix?" Jellal asked.

"I don't know. It held up this chain that had some broken links in it. Maybe that's what it meant. I have no idea, though."

"What could possibly be broken in Lucy?" Jellal wondered.

Gray snorted, "Oh you know, just her faith and trust in the people she thought were family but then shut her out so completely they didn't even realize when she left…"

The three wizards looked down, studying the floor, lost in their thoughts.


	30. Chapter 30

Levy had watched the commotion Erza made when she hauled Gray out of the guild. She wanted to chase after them and find out what had happened, but she had a health appreciation for life, so instead she joined Lisanna and Bickslow at their table. Lily flew after her, leaving Gajeel alone at his table. Miffed at being left behind, Gajeel soon stood and strode over to join his Shrimp at the other table.

"How do you think Lucy is doing?" Levy was asking Lisanna as Gajeel pushed Bickslow over so that he could sit across from his girl. Not that either of them were ready to admit such things.

Lisanna shrugged. "What Laxus said to her before she left was pretty harsh. I wish we could have intervened… stupid Natsu." Lisanna's lip stuck out in a pout at the last bit. "He totally blocked us from getting to her!"

"Do you think he's faking it?" Levy asked. Honestly, she was having a hard time believing that Natsu, no matter what had been done to him, could ever forget Lucy. It had been so obvious that he help Lucy as someone special.

Bickslow piped in, "Nah. When I was able to take a look at his soul yesterday… Well, I'm not exactly sure what I was seeing, but it was like there were some stitches missing?"

"Translate that for the rest of us," Gajeel grumbled, annoyed at the seith mage.

Bickslow glared at the dragon slayer, his eyes glowing for a moment before he was calmed by a pale hand reaching across the table to grip his own. He turned to Lisanna and sighed. "I don't really get it and it's been bugging the shit outta me. There is either something really important we are forgetting about Natsu, or he is hiding some serious shit from the guild."

"What do you mean Bicks?" Levy couldn't help the curiosity as she eagerly earged the soul reader to continue.

"He got three souls all twisted up in him. His human soul, the bit that his dragon gave him, and then… He has this blackness." Lisanna squeezed his hand encouraging him to continue, "I think he might be part demon? He is Zeref's brother, right? But I think there is more to it than that."

Gajeel grunted, "Ain't no way that Salamander is some demon. Kid's way to optimistic and giddy and shit."

Levy giggle at that, but then stopped abruptly when she felt a nagging feeling pressing at her thoughts. Like she had forgotten something important. "Does anyone else feel like they're forgetting something about Natsu?"

Lisanna was rubbing her temple as if she were trying to ease a headache. "Yeah, it's weird. There is something entirely not surprising about Natsu being part demon."

Bickslow felt the same and voiced a concern that was bubbling in his head, "I'm worried about that."

"What do you mean?" Lisanna asked.

"Well, if Natsu seems to have memory issues, then what's to say we all don't have the same issues."

"But we remember Lu-chan just fine!" Levy denied. "Wouldn't we have problems remembering her too?"

"Maybe it affects everyone differently?" Lisanna suggested.

"Can we go back to the stitches shit in Salamander's soul?"

The others glanced over at Gajeel, waiting to see what he was going to say.

"You said he's got missing stitches? Where? What does that mean?"

Bickslow nodded, "It's like someone did surgery on his souls, but whoever did it left a hole, like they didn't stitch a specific section together right."

"So, what's that mean about Salamander? Is the kid gonna go bat-shit soon 'cause his soul ain't right?"

Bicks shrugged, "It's hard to say."

"Tell them what you told me about Lu's soul, Bicksy," Lisanna proded.

"What about Lu-chan's soul?" Levy was worried now. If there was something wrong with Natsu's soul, did that mean there was something wrong with Lucy's? Was it connected? Lucy had been so depressed and had isolated herself from the guild. She hadn't shared any of her pain, not even with Lisanna or herself when they would meet up for girls night. Levy hadn't known about Erza ignoring her or Gray telling her off over Juvia like that. She could see that Lucy was trying to go it alone, but she never realized the fully reasons why and perhaps she still didn't know everything.

"Cosplayer's soul is pretty broken."

"What do you mean broken?" Gajeel sneered. He was glaring again. Bunny girl was a friend of his Shrimp, one of the best, he didn't like the idea of her being broken. That shit was catching.

"When I first met Cosplayer it was during Laxus's… um… Tantrum, we'll call it. When I read her soul, it was white and perfect and so bright I could hardly stand it. When I saw her yesterday her soul looked like a fractured mirror caught in an expanse of darkness. Erik…"

"Erik?" Levy questioned.

"Shit, Cobra, I meant Cobra…"

Levy hummed, storing the information away for later.

"Cobra said her soul sounded like broken glass being ground by rusted gears. It's bad."

"Is it related to Salamander?"

"Not directly, I don't think," Bicks replied.

There was silence between the friend for a few minutes as the mulled over what was going on.

"I wonder what Gray had to say to Erza," Levy whispered to herself, worrying her lip between her teeth. The action had Gajeel's attention implicitly, so he missed what she said entirely.

"It is taking a while for them to come back, isn't it," Lisanna added.

"Laxus head that way, to the guild I mean, to meet with Master a few hours ago and hasn't come back yet either," Bickslow commented.

"Oh, I didn't know that's where he was headed this morning," Lisanna said off-handedly.

"Staying the night with the Thunder God Tribe, are we?" Levy teased. Lisanna shoved her on the shoulder, hard, causing the smaller bluenette to lose her balance. The blush on the white haired, animal take-over mage's face, however, was worth it.

* * *

"Has Wendy returned yet, Mira," the Master asked through the communications lacrima Mira held.

The barmaid smiled cheerfully back at him, "No sir, I haven't seen her today at all. Her team came back, Romeo and Carla."

Makarov sighed, "Can you try and get a hold of Laxus and tell him we have a situation here and need him to bring Wendy back ASAP?"

"Oooh, what kind of situation Master?" Mira asked, nosing her way into getting all the information she could before the master ended the call.

"Natsu needs to be healed from some… injuries. He's got a room at Magnolia Town Hospital."

"Should I call Porlyusica in the meantime?"

"No. She's out of town now anyway."

"What happened to Natsu that he needs hospital treatment?"

The master paused, taking a few moments to think of a reply, "Let's just say it is very important for guild members to NOT approach the guild hall until I say otherwise."

Mira's eyes went wide, hadn't Laxus gone to the guild hall earlier today? "Is Laxus…"

"Laxus is fine, he's with Wendy at Sabertooth. They had an emergency and needed a healer, fast."

"Oh my!"

"Just get a hold of Laxus for me, Mira."

"Yes, sir!"

The call was ended and Mira took a moment to collect her thoughts. Natsu was injured badly enough from entering the guild hall that he was now in the hospital. That was certainly unsettling. Knowing one of her nakama had been hurt so badly had her magic surge and her Satan Soul nearly forcing itself free. She wanted nothing more than to head to the guild and see what was in there that could hurt Natsu that badly. The only things holding her back were the Master's words about needing Wendy and his order to stay out. She respected the old man way too much to ignore a direct order from him. So instead of allowing her soul take-over to, well, take-over, she gripped the communicator and focused her efforts on getting a hold of Laxus.

The lightning dragon in question answered after her third try, "What is it Mira? I'm kinda in the middle of things here."

"Sunny as usual," Mira smiled. Laxus sneered at her, but the death glare did nothing to remove her smile.

"Master called and said he needs you and Wendy at Magnolia Town Hospital ASAP," Mira relayed the message.

"Shit," the mage looked around himself giving Mira a small view of an exploded wall with mages sitting all around in what looked to be Sabertooth's training arena.

"What happened there?" Mira asked.

"Lucy happened," Laxus grumbled. "Some weird shit is going on with her right now, I can't explain. What happened to Gramps, is he okay? Can Porlyusica take care of him?"

"Oh Master is fine," Mira answered. Her smile had slipped into a slight frown. "Something happened to Lucy?"

"Not now, Mira, I'll explain later. I've got to find Miss I-Can't -Not-Help-People so I can' get back there. Do you know what's going on at the hospital?"

"Master didn't say beyond the fact that Natsu was injured."

"Flame-tard when off the handle eh?"

Mira giggled at that, forgetting her worry for the celestial mage. "I'm not sure, but it seemed to have something to do with the guild hall."

"Shit! Dammit! WENDY!" Laxus called out to the sky maiden as the call abruptly ended.

Mira pouted for a moment muttering, "Rude." She dutifully slipped a smile back onto her face and started polishing the bar top.

* * *

Natsu was in a lot of pain. The nurses in the hospital had manhandled him into a 'soothing' bath filled with herbs claiming that they would ease the pain of the burns. It was all a load of Happy crap, though. He felt like the shadow-fire was still touching him, burning him. Whatever the herbs were, they weren't helping, not even a little. He was having trouble holding back the squinted grimace from his face. He had no idea fire could hurt so much.

Makarov had left to meet Laxus at the entrance of the Hospital, saying Wendy would be coming with him. Zeref was standing above Natsu's nude and bathing form with a frown on his lips, while Mavis sat in the waiting room for the bath to finish. If Natsu could yell at his brother to leave without whimpering like a baby, he would.

"You are the first victim the shadows have actually attacked," Zeref mumbled. "I wonder if the power of the shadow apparition correlates somehow to Lucy's emotional state at the time?"

Natsu wanted to yell out fuck that bitch, but again he would rather not be a whimpering mess in front of the most evil man he knew. Right now, one could say that his head space was crowded with negative thoughts of the blonde mage who seemed to be haunting him ever since she left the guild. He was not happy about it. He was not happy that her scent made him feel like home. He was not happy that when he focused on the visions he saw he felt, no, he ached for something he couldn't quite define. He was definitely not pleased even a little that somehow the scent of wildflowers had overwhelmed him while the black shadow-flames had brushed against him. Why had it wanted to hurt him so badly? He could tell that was its intent.

"When the ice wizard went in the building, he saw a vision of Lucy and she yelled at him, but she did not try to hurt him. When Laxus was there, the old man said it was more intense than what happened to icicle, but still there was no feeling of harm intended. But you. You…." He stopped, not needing to say more. With Laxus and Gray there had been only one chain visible. With Natsu there had been at least a half dozen that had ripped down into the guild and violently snapped.

He felt like he could confidently conclude that the emotions Lucy felt about each mage were tied to how the Shadow-Lucy reacted to their presence. What he was unsure about was why the shadows only seemed to react to certain people. Also, what did the chains signify? There was also the curiosity of the celestial magic that flowed through the shadows and into the hall. Did Lucy leave behind a certain amount of magic with the shadow creations, or did they directly link to her and pull magic out of their creator. Was she the creator?

There was so much to analyze. Perhaps an experiment could be set up, he would have to talk to Makarov about it.

Natsu listened to his brother mumble to himself and couldn't help but wonder what the hell he was talking about. He hoped Wendy would get here soon, or the nurses would come back and let him out of the damned bath he was in. His skin felt like it was still burning and it had been over an hour now. He felt pruney and uncomfortable. It didn't help that Zeref was there staring at him while he lay nude. What the hell was wrong with his brother anyway? Couldn't a guy get some privacy. At least Mavis stayed out of the room.

Natsu closed his eyes, focusing on something happy to ease his mind from the pain in his body. He was happiest when he was on a new adventure. When there were bad guys to beat up and long roads to travel. He was happy when he could come back to the guild and have his nakama there to greet him, celebrating his victories with him. He was happiest when… there were wildflowers and stardust.

His mind took a sharp right turn as the vision of the half melted, half shredded, nude Shadow-Lucy popped into his mind. It had been horrifying. What he had assumed to be her skin had bubbled and and slid down her arms exposing textured shadow muscles behind. Her torso had been ripped and bloated as if it were already decaying and excess fluids were building up to enhance the process of decay. Her legs… he gagged. Flesh ripped from bone, muscle and tendons dangling uselessly. Yet she had still managed to walk forward. Limping on skeletal and partly fleshly feet.

Then her face. Her face looked so pristine. It was a lie, he realized. A mask to the world to make everyone believe she was okay, yet her body was rotted. Was that how Lucy was? A mask of good and light while she was internally torn to shreds?

"Natsu!" a girlish gasp came from the doorway and Natsu opened his eyes to see Wendy looking at him, a blush on her face when she realized he was naked, but her eyes filled with concern.

Finally.


	31. Chapter 31

A week later found Lucy and Sting having the same argument they had been having since the infirmary exploded.

"Will you stop yelling long enough to listen to me?!" Sting hollered across the guild commons at the blonde celestial mage who was raging at him, yet again. "And get your ass back here, Blondie, we're not done with this discussion."

The girl turned, her face red and eyes narrowed into slits as she glared back at her guild master, "Oh we're done. I'm going. I'm leaving tomorrow morning. That is final. I already accepted the job and not showing would damage the guild's reputation." Her foot stomped like a child's to emphasize her point.

The rest of the guild sat in amused silence as they watched to two most stubborn people they knew battle it out. Minerva couldn't help but smile as the argument was bringing back some of the fire the blonde had been missing over the months. Beside the Lady, Rufus sat with his legs crossed holding his index and middle fingers up to his temple while muttering "Memorized", a wicked smile curving his lip. Orga was behind the bar making a strong drink, which he slid over to Rogue. Rogue looked rather haggard, apparently he had to listen to Sting's side of this argument all night again. Yukino was coming down the staircase with a report in hand dealing with the infirmary repairs, but was stopped in her tracks as she took in the two blondes verbally dueling it out.

"I never said you couldn't go! God, will you just listen to me, woman!"

"That's not what you said yesterday! You told me that you weren't going to let me go on ANY jobs until my magic was under control!"

"That was yesterday!"

"Oh, so what, you've changed your mind. AGAIN!"

"No! Not anymore, anyways. SINCE YOU WONT STOP AND LISTEN TO ME LONG ENOUGH …!"

"Oh save it! I'm going to pack my things and head to the train." She turned and started stomping away again.

"Oi! Get back here! You said you weren't going to leave until tomorrow!" Sting chased after the girl, this time, but paused briefly when he passed Yukino, "Oh, are these the reports? Thanks!" He grabbed them out of her hands, leaving the girl stunned, then he was off again after the crazy lady.

"Oh thank the gods they're gone," Rogue groaned. He downed the vodka straight he'd asked for and slid the empty glass back to Orga. "They've been at it all week," the raven haired shadow mage cried as he brought his forehead down onto the bar top with a soft thunk.

"At least Tiny's moved passed the 'I should leave and never come back' bit," Orga mumbled. "That was annoying. Can't blame her though."

Rogue nodded in agreement. "I think it helped that we dragged her back into the guild when she tried to sneak out."

"Master Sting making her pay for half the damages helped her feel less guilty, too," Yukino supplied as she sat at the bar next to the Shadow Dragon.

The three sat in silence, relishing in the peace of the guild now that Lucy and Sting were busy fighting it out elsewhere. The quiet stretched for a good thirty minutes, giving each Sabertooth guild member the faux feeling of harmony and relaxation. Of course it couldn't last. Not now that they had the broken Lucy Heartfilia in their guild.

Sabertooth's double doors cracked hard against the walls as they were slammed open, causing them to bounce slightly with the force of the ricochet. The sunlight framed several forms in the doorway, making it impossible for the Sabers to know who exactly had decided to so rudely enter their guild.

Rogue stood to face the door, preparing the slip into the shadows if there was trouble. Yukino spun around in her bar stool, grabbing for Libra's key. Before any more movement could take place in the guild entryway, Lucy, with Happy attached to her head, followed by Sting, who was still yelling at her to just "Wait one goddamn minute!", came crashing down the staircase.

"Happy!" came a voice from the doorway that stopped the fighting pair in their tracks.

"Natsu!" Happy jumped from his perch on Lucy and flew at max speed into this best friend's chest! "Did you come to bring Lucy home?" the exceed questioned?

"What?" Natsu replied confused. "Nah, little buddy, I came to get you." Natsu's face lit up with a cheesy grin before he turned to face the blonde. The smile faded almost immediately upon seeing her. Flashes of her shadow form in the guild haunted him as he glared at the girl. "You stole Happy!" he accused, though there was little heat behind his words. He was having trouble staying angry now that he was face to face with the woman.

Said woman was having a very difficult time wrapping her mind around the fact that _Natsu_ was standing inside the _Sabertooth_ guild hall. Her chest constricted with pain, her anger at Sting from their argument twisted into a nervous fear. The fire dragon was looking at her strangely. What did that mean, had he somehow remembered her? Was he mad? No, that couldn't have happened. Her stomach fluttered and she wanted to throw up. All her mind could manage to think was: _Too soon, it's still too soon. God, this hurts. Leave. Please leave._

"Natsu," came a verbal warning as Master Makarov stepped further into the guild. "Ah, Sting. I'm glad you are available! You haven't been answering my lacrima calls, so we decided to drop by."

"What lacrima calls?" Sting frowned. "You haven't been calling me." The white dragon crossed his arms over his chest. A moment later Rogue slid out of the shadows by his side, seconding his comment. What the hell was going on?

Makarov, however, didn't reply as he stepped further into the guild, followed by two mages no one recognized. His focus was on Lucy. He had seen all of the different shadow forms she'd taken so far and they had been keeping him awake at night. Each one had been some broken and deformed version of the mage who now stood, healthy and bright eyed, in front of him. He soaked in her image wanting to force the darker versions of her out of his mind and replace them with the soft sweet version he had grown so fond of over the years. Blonde hair, brown eyes, creamy skin, curves for days… Strength. Love. Light.

The brightness he had just witnessed as he washed himself in her presence flickered and then vanished. The celestial mage backed away from her old Fairy Tail comrades, now wanting to hide herself away behind the Twin Dragons who stood at her back. Why were they here?

The intensity of the moment was broken as Happy struggled free from Natsu's arms and called, "I'm not leaving Lucy here alone! I'm not going to leave her like the rest of you did."

"I didn't leave _her_! _She_ left Fairy Tail," was Natsu's defiant reply. "None of that matters, anyway. Just come home. I miss ya buddy!"

Happy seemed to waver with indecision. He glanced at Lucy and then back at Natsu. When he started to fly towards the blonde, she shook her head at the blue cat. Tears formed in his eyes, "You don't want me to s-stay?"

"Oh Happy!" Lucy murmured. "We can always visit each other, but Natsu is your best friend, you shouldn't leave him alone." Speaking was hard. She wanted to vanish. If only she could slide into the shadows like Rogue, she would give anything to be able to do that.

At her words the guild doors slammed shut and the illusion covering the identities of the mystery mages was released. Lucy wasn't surprised that it was Zeref and Mavis, but still was unsure as to why they were all here.

Zeref scoffed, "You're one to talk…"

"Seriously?" Lucy did not need to have another argument with the mage about this now. If that was why Zeref was here, to start another fight over how bad of a person she was, then he could just shove it up the black pit of his ass hole.

Before the inevitable chaos could erupt, Sting shouted, "Fairy Tail, Lucy, my offi...oh… Uh. My apartment. Now."

Sting turned to lead the way as shouts of: "Wait, is that Zeref?", "Holy shit, he's alive?", "What is he doing with Fairy Tail?" started escalating in the background of the guild. Rogue and Lucy followed along with the mages from Fairy Tail. Up the stairs, which had been cleared and were under repair, to the fourth floor where Sting's apartment was situated at the end of the hallway.

"What's up with all this construction," Natsu wondered aloud. "Looks like someone tried to blow up your guild hall."

Lucy's shoulders slumped at the casual remark. Of course Natsu wouldn't really think anything of it considering how often guild repairs were done in Fairy Tail after he caused a ruckus. But Lucy had never been the one to cause the damage before, and being reminded at how much she accidentally destroyed left her feeling guilty again. It tugged at her stomach and tensed her shoulders.

Happy sniggered behind his paws when he answered, "Lucy had a blow… out… Hahahaha!" The blue cat happily gilded around the heads of the mages he was following through Sting's front door. He avoided getting too close to Lucy, knowing that even he wasn't safe from the famous 'Lucy Kick'.

"Shut it, cat!"

"Laxus mentioned that Lucy's magic went a little haywire while he was here," Makarov mused. "Is that why we are not meeting in your office, Sting?"

Happy snorted, "A little haywire? Hah! That's an understatement. She blew up the whole infirmary in her sleep!"

Sting remained quiet, knowing that the topic was still a bit fresh for Lucy. He didn't want to rub it in. Happy was an insensitive jerk. Nothing new there. Sting recalled the first time he heard Happy joke about Blondie being fat. He had choked on his steak and had an 'involuntary reaction' of smacking the poor exceed out of the air. Blondie didn't need that kind of shit right now anyway.

"Interesting," came a solemn voice from the back of the crowd. "She was asleep when it happened?"

They all entered the apartment. Sting guiding them to his dining table, where there was the most seating and took the head of the table. Lucy to his left, Rogue to his right. Zeref made himself comfortable next to Lucy, who glared at him with enough venom to make him flinch slightly. The woman was scary when she was angry. He hadn't meant to piss her off first thing, but he couldn't stop the words from coming out of his mouth. He had been feeling especially bitter lately after his plans for Operation: Kidnap Lucy part Two had been turned down no matter what revisions he'd made. They were here now after compromising on the subject.

Makarov sat next to Rogue, wanting to remain close to Lucy, while Natsu sat at the opposite end of the table with Happy only to find himself suddenly on the floor as Mavis pulled the chair out from under him and took it for herself, grinning. Natsu, who was… well… Natsu, did not let this go without at least attempting to fight. However, the young man found himself face planting on the floor after a swift chop to his cranium from Makarov.

Zeref started the conversation, "Against my advice, we have come to seek permission to take," there was a kick under the table and Zeref grunted, "Erg, _barrow_ Miss Heartfilia and Mr. Cheney.."

Lucy couldn't help the snort that escaped, "What, no one would agree to your kidnapping plans?"

The man in question turned to glare at the blonde, "It worked well last time."

She huffed and folded her arms across her chest. "No, I won't go," She answered curtly.

Rogue spoke up, "What do you need with me?"

Before Zeref could go off, Makarov answered, "We need someone who is an expert on shadow magic, and, Lucy, we need you because we suspect that what is happening in the guild hall is directly related to you."

"Aggressive shadows?" Sting questioned, remembering the odd conversation with the Fairies on the train a week back.

"Aggressive!" Natsu snorted. "We're talking about shadows that can use a type of fire magic that _burned_ me."

Sting and Rogue glanced at each other, both realizing just how odd that statement was. Natsu should be immune to all types of fire. He was a FIRE dragon slayer after all.

"And you!" Natsu pointed at Lucy, "This is somehow all tied up with you."

Lucy was stuck somewhere between pure surprise that Natsu had been burned and spite for being blamed for it. The result of this caused her to sputter in reply, "M-Me? You think I have something to do with this?"

"Oh, I know you do," Natsu stated angrily, finally able to access the feeling now that he was reminded once again of the terror Shadow-Lucy bestowed in him. He wanted to lash out at the girl, but he knew this probably wasn't the best time.

Lucy was confused now and looked around the table, "What?" Her eyes darting between Makarov, Zeref and Natsu, then back to Sting as if hoping for a lifeline to pull her out of the sea she was suddenly drowning in.

Mavis's calm voice carried through the room, "Lucy, we are not yet entirely sure what is happening, but we need to run a few experiments to find out. For that, we need you. It will also be helpful for your guildmate, Rogue, to accompany us so that we have an expert opinion on the matter."

Rogue shared a look with Sting. Years of brotherhood allowed them to converse silently on the matter. They were both curious, and the idea that these 'aggressive shadows' could hurt a dragon slayer with their own element was definitely dangerous and needed to be dealt with. Yet neither of them were willing to allow the Fairy Tail mages to take Lucy with them, even if that meant a fight.

"I'll go," Rogue answered simply.

"Lucy?" Mavis questioned.

Lucy was looking desperately at Sting. She couldn't go back there, not yet.

"Lucy is already scheduled for a job request, but afterwards, the decision is hers," Sting replied as he met Lucy's eyes, trying his best to relay his support.

Mavis nodded, but the Dragneel brothers immediately protested. Zeref pounded at the table, while Natsu yelled, "She needs to fix this…" before being chopped by Makarov again.

Zeref, having escaped the Master's fist, spoke out, "The experiment cannot be completed without Lucy there too. Having one and not the other is useless to us."

Sting was having trouble with many things at the moment, but the idea that Zeref was in his apartment trying to demand things from him was his highest priority to figure out. He was attempting to wrap his head around what was going on here, but there was just too much. What the hell did they think Lucy had done that made them feel it necessary to intimidate him with a the undead dark mage? What experiment were they wanting to perform on the girl? Who was the short woman at the other end of his table? Why did it seem like Lucy and Zeref were... friendenemies? What bug had crawled up Natsu's butt? Did Natsu know Lucy was the cause of his memory issues? Did he even know he had memory issues?

The first thing to finally rise from his muddled thoughts, however, was a defensive retaliation to Natsu, "Lucy doesn't need to fix anything for you Fairies. As I recall, it was all of _you_ who broke _her_. And you…. Dead guy. I will not subject Lucy to any _experiments_ without her consent and full understanding of what she is agreeing to. She is a Celestial Mage. She deserves to know what she is forming a contract over."

Sting stood and added dismissively, "I believe this discussion is over for now. Lucy and I have to leave for her job. You can make plans with Rogue for when and how long you need his expertise."


	32. Chapter 32

Sting and Lucy left the apartment, Sting grabbing his pack on his way out the door, which slammed behind him. Rogue stayed behind staring blandly at the group from Fairy Tail. He wondered if the group found irony in the fact that they were asking the mage whose future self was possessed by a shadow to analyse aggressive shadows. One would think they would be nervous about his susceptibility to be 'overtaken'. Instead of grinning like a fool, which he sort of wanted to do, he sighed and waiting for someone to start talking.

"I'll have to follow her and stay close enough to study the next episode when it happens," Zeref muttered. "Inconvenient."

"Ha! Well then I'm going with you," Natsu declared.

Rogue wanted to put a stop to whatever their plan was, but before he could get a word in the two started fighting like hissing cats.

"I don't think that would be necessary, Natsu."

"Like hell! I ain't letting you go after Lucy without me. She's haunting me, not you."

"Why do you keep saying that? The girl is alive, she can't be haunting you, you're an idiot."

"What did you call me?"

"An IDIOT!"

"I'm not an idiot, you are for thinking Fairy Tail would let you, YOU, the man who tried to kill us all, go off on his own after some helpless girl."

"Eh-hmm," Rogue tried to interrupt. The 'helpless girl' comment stirring him out of his temporary shock at the brothers bickering.

"Helpless? You really have forgotten all about Lucy Heartfilia, then haven't you," Zeref said rolling his eyes. Even he had never saw the girl as helpless. Sure she was no wizard saint, but she had held her own against his demons in Tartarus. She had done her piece during the war as well.

"Oi! I haven't forgotten anything! It is all of you who have gone crazy."

"Oh, yes. It must be the rest of the world, not you. How stupid of us not to realize," Zeref exaggerated his obvious stupidity by smacking his forehead with his palm.

"Eh-HEMmm," Rogue tried again.

"Yeah, you're the stupid one!"

Zeref laughed, "Oh that's rich, Natsu. I was able to use magic to create a new kind of life, and I'm the stupid one." He laughed again, almost becoming hysterical, "I brought you back to life, little brother! And maybe that was stupid!"

Natsu punched, fist cover in orange-red flames. Zeref dodged faster than eyes could follow, grabbing a hold of Natsu's arm and pinning it against himself, immobilizing the raging spit-fire.

Rogue stood, "Please refrain from fighting in Sting's apartment, gentlemen."

Makarov, who had been lost in thought looked up and found the Dragneel brothers squirming to gain control over each other. "Enough, Natsu," he spoke simply.

Mavis could no longer hold back her peels of laughter, "You two are worse together than when Natsu works with Gray!"

Zeref glared at the tiny woman. He did not want to be compared to the ice wizard who couldn't stay in his clothes even if they were magically glued to his skin. Disgusting. Mavis shrugged in return, not doing anything to stifle her glee.

"I agree, Zeref. You must follow Lucy. Take Natsu with you." Makarov ordered. "Report back any findings."

"I don't think following Lucy would be a good idea at this point," Rogue jumped in. "Anyways, she is my guildmate, and if you intend to harm her in any …."

"I will not harm the celestial mage. I didn't last time, I won't this time," Zeref said.

Rogue's eyes narrowed at him. Last time? The shadow dragon was smart enough to know that going against the wizard wouldn't end well for him or his guild, but he had to be sure. He glanced at their guild master, "Makarov, can you, personally, vouch for Lucy's safety."

"Oh course, my boy. They will be too busy biting off each other's heads to even notice what is going on with the girl," the old man chuckled.

"You think this is funny?" Rogue asked. His calm demeanor coming across with deadly sincerity. "If harm comes to Lucy Heartfilia at the hands of any mage under your control, than we will have no choice but retaliate. Understood? Master Makarov?"

"Oi! Like the lot of you Sabers could ever beat Fairy Tail anyway!" Natsu laughed.

A shadow hand reached up and grabbed Natsu by his vest, slamming his face down into the table. "Say that again," Rogue spat angrily.

Natsu was rearing up to jump across the table to reach Rogue when Makarov spoke, "NATSU! Stop what you are doing. Rogue, you have my word as Master of Fairy Tail that Lucy will not in any way be harmed due to Zeref or Natsu's presence on her job."

Rogue nodded not liking this development one bit, but knew when he was outclassed enough to not start a fight. He would report it to Sting and Lucy as soon as he was free of the mages occupying the table around him.

With a nod from the old man, Zeref and Natsu left the apartment. Natsu pushing Zeref out the door when he paused to take note of a picture set on a side table next to the couch in the apartment's front room. The words, "Stop bein' a snoop," wafting back to the remaining group.

Rogue sat back down at the table. Makarov was across from him and Mavis moved around the table to sit next to the old man.

"So. Shadows," Rogue prompted.

The young girl cleared her throat and spoke over Makarov as she started explaining what they were seeing in their guild. She stayed vague enough that Rogue wouldn't make an immediate connections between the shadow's forms and Lucy, but made sure to include the fact that each time the shadow had solidified it seemed to have a different magic type accompanying it as well as a slightly different deformity.

Rogue listened dutifully as they explained they weren't sure what triggered the shadows, or if the forms were actually shadows or something else. No one in Fairy Tail specifically worked with shadows enough to give them the help they needed, which was why they came to Sabertooth for help. Rogue rose and eyebrow at that, had they forgotten that they had an Iron-Shadow Dragon in their guild? Maybe this was something beyond Gajeel's experience. Maybe they hadn't felt they could tell Gajeel what was going on for some reason. Rogue mauled that over. Considering the state of their guild and how no one seemed to know anything about Lucy or what was going on with her magic / life, it could be safe to assume that they had simply forgot their own resources. How pathetic. Had Fairy Tail, the guild of family values, really fallen so far?

"How soon do you need my services?" Rogue asked once their story had completed, "And why not ask Gajeel?"

The two across from the Shadow Dragon shared a look. He could not tell by their facial expressions what they were silently saying to each other, but he wished he could.

After a minute or so pause, Makarov spoke, "We would rather not expose Gajeel to what is happening in the guild unless absolutely necessary. But we would like to have this settled as soon as we can, so whenever you are ready to travel…."

Rogue could not help his suspicions after that. This felt wrong to him. Why would they want to keep Gajeel out? What were they hiding from their own guild? "I can be ready in a few hours," Rogue commented in reply. "I'll have to speak with M'Lady and Rufus before I go and pack for… how long?"

"A few days should be fine," the old man answered. "Eventually we'll need Lucy to help out, so for now we just need your evaluation of the situation."

"Why Lucy? What does she have to do with the shadows?"

"I'm afraid it would be easier to show you, rather than tell you."

Rogue nodded. "If you would wait for me in the Guild Commons downstairs, I will join you shortly."

The two Fairies nodded, and the three left Sting's apartment. Rogue took a second to glance at the portrait that had grabbed Zeref's attention on his way out. It was a framed photograph of Lucy and Sting getting ready to leave on a job request together shortly after she received her guild mark. Sting's arm was slung around her shoulders and was grinning like an absolute fool. Blonde spikes, blue fur-lined vest covering a black t-shirt tucked into loose fitting white pants. A slight deviation from his normal garb. Lucy stood looking excited, a matching grin on her face as she held a hand up, signing a "V" for victory. That day she had worn pants, and Rogue remembered Sting teasing her about not realizing she knew what pants were. The girl so often wore tiny outfits that exposed much, but for that job she had dressed modestly. In fact, modest dress had become more of a norm for the celestial mage. It had made Sting whine pathetically, and Rogue laugh at his friends "misfortune". He wondered why the photo had grabbed Zeref's attention.

Rogue closed and locked Sting's apartment, then watched the backs of the Fairies as they walked away down the hall and back towards the stairs. Rogue simply crossed the hall to his own apartment and made his way to his communications lacrima to inform Sting of their secret travel companions as well as how long he expected to be in Magnolia.

"They said they couldn't tell you how Lucy was involved?" Sting replied a few minutes later after Rogue explained what happened when the two left.

"No. They said they'd show me."

"I don't get it, why would I have anything to do with Shadows at the guild hall?" Lucy chimed in from the background. Rogue could see her sitting off to Sting's left on a bench at the train station waiting to leave.

Rogue simply shrugged. He didn't have an answer for her and wouldn't until he saw everything for himself. So instead he asked another pressing question, "Have you seen Zeref and Natsu at the station yet?"

Both of the blondes shook their headed. Lucy spoke up, though, "I can't imagine that we won't spot them eventually, though. I mean it's Natsu…."

Rogue chuckled. Sting glared.

"Well. You know what to do from here, Rogue. We'll see you when the job's done."

Rogue nodded and disconnected the call. In his apartment he grabbed his pack and placed four neatly folded sets of clothes, his toiletries all packed in precisely sized bags, a couple books on Shadow-Lore that could be helpful, and his communication lacrima into the bag. He checked his wallet and made sure it had enough Jewels in it to pay for a hotel in Magnolia as well has food. He sighed, he might come up a little short if the trip lasted longer than two nights. Maybe he could squat at Lucy's old place.

Eight hours later found Rogue checking into an inn named Beautiful Blossoms three blocks away from the closed Fairy Tail guild hall in Magnolia. Makarov told him to meet with him after breakfast in front of the guild the next morning, so Rogue would have the evening to himself before having to face off with whatever lurked behind the locked doors.

The inn was more an old home that was a bed and breakfast with an expansion built onto the back of the house to provide more rooms and amenities for guests. The expansion was large, and one could tell that the owners of the home had bought out neighboring properties in order to complete it. He was told by the young girl at the front desk, who was currently handing him a key to a room, that breakfast would be served down the expansion's hall and to the left starting at 6 a.m. The room was labeled 'Dining'. Also, found across from 'Dining' was a public bath owned by the inn, if he preferred that to the small private bath provided for guests in their rooms. His room was in the main house on the third floor, the attic. The girls name was Jules and if he needed anything, insert meaningful look and awkward show of cleavage here, to just ask for her.

The whole encounter was a bit tiring for the inverted Shadow Dragon. He much preferred Yukino's soft and subtle shows of friendship to the obtuse innuendos the girl, Jules, was using. He'd never admit that to anyone, however. Yukino was to bright for him, and for him to bask in her glory would only besmudge her beauty. Rogue shook the thoughts from his head, he should dwell on things he couldn't have.

After settling his belongings into the closet of the attic room, Rogue made his way back to the streets of Magnolia in search of food. The inn did not provide any food services besides breakfast, so he was on his own for dinner. His stomach was practically roaring at him in protest for not eating sooner, but he wasn't about to take an eight hour train ride on a full stomach. As luck would strike, next door to the inn was a tavern that was still open and, from the smells wafting outside, was still serving food, despite the late hour. The tavern was aptly named "Magnolia Bar and Grill", and Rogue did not hesitated to push through the door and take a seat at the bar. The place wasn't empty by any means, but also wasn't crowded. A medium mixture of mages and people sitting at tables, drinking, eating, and laughing merrily. He took a moment to take in the clientele, not finding it too surprising to see a small group of Fairies huddled together. One of the mages, the only one to notice his entrance, was currently glaring back at him with glowing red eyes.

Of course Gajeel would be here, Rogue monologued to himself. Rogue was weary of meeting the heavily pierced iron slayer, unsure of what he was allowed to tell him. He knew the man would corner him before he left. Makarov was specifically leaving Gajeel out of the shadows ordeal and Rogue had no idea why. His fellow dragon slayer would smell a lie. Then Rogue shrugged. It wasn't his problem that the Master of Fairy Tail was hiding things from his guild members, and no one said he couldn't consult with an other on the subject.

The barkeep interrupted his train of thought, "What can I get 'cha?" He was a slim man with silvered hair and crinkles by his eyes. His age was ambiguous as Rogue couldn't tell if the silver in his hair was natural coloring, or the show of old age. The crinkles next to the man's eyes gave Rogue an impression of delicate skin that had wrinkled from repetitive creasing, but the light blue of his iris told a story of eternal youth. An enigma for sure.

"Can I see a menu and get a pint of your best draft beer?" Rogue answered the barkeep.

"Sure thing, stranger."

Rogue was handed a menu that listed five different types prepared beef and a note that all meals came with a serving of potatoes. A beer appeared to Rogue right and the slim enigma called, "See something 'cha like?"

The menu was numbered, so Rogue called out the number of his order, "The number three looks good, thanks." The barkeep nodded to show he heard before turning towards the kitchen and shouting to his cooks to get it done.

Rogue drank deeply from the provided beer, aware that Gajeel had left the table of Fairies and was headed his way. At least the beer was good. Not too dark. Smooth with the added tasted of ingredients touched with sunshine. It reminded him of Lucy for some reason and he vaguely wondered how she was fairing on her trip west.

"Ryos," Gajeel's gravely tone whispered just to Rogue's left. Black Steel Gajeel made himself comfortable on top of the open bar stool. His hand flagging the barkeep for another beer.

"Gajeel," Rogue greeted.

"What brings you back to Magnolia."

"A request from your guild master, actually."

"Oh yeah? What request would that be?" the burly slayer questioned. There was no threat in his voice, which made Rogue relax. Their relationship had been rather odd since they were matched in the Grand Magic Games. Occasional rivalry, occasional hostility, occasional brotherhood. Today seemed to be a day of brotherhood between them.

"Creepy shadow creatures in your guild hall. Wants an expert opinion on what they are and where they came from."

"Shadows, huh?"

"Meeting Makarov and Mavis outside the guild hall after breakfast tomorrow. I could use a second opinion."

"Gehee," the iron dragon giggled oddly. "Not sure why they didn't ask me to do it in the first place, but probably shouldn't shit in their punch bowl straight away. Tell me about it, after, okay?"

"Most definitely."

With that, Gajeel took his new beer and made his way back to the table where his guildmates were. Rogue relaxed further. Gajeel wasn't upset with him. That was a good start to whatever was going on at the Fairy Tail guild. Rogue's food was delivered soon after, and the hungry slayer tucked in to the meal with gusto.


	33. Chapter 33

_In the blurred landscape of fire and stars, Lucy found herself drifting. Wherever she was felt like a precipice between memory and nightmare, and the girl was unsure which direction she would fall as her body drifted on buffering air currents._

 _"YOU'RE WEAK!" yelled a familiar voice. The tone hostile as the sound reverberated through the mage, causing her to shuddered with the memory. "YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING RIGHT! YOU SELFISH PIG HEADED GIRL! IF ONLY YOUR MOTHER WERE HERE TO SEE HOW FAR YOU'VE FALLEN!"_

 _The owner of the voice appeared in front of the drifting mage. Her aqua colored hair and mermaids tail shining like the light from the blurred stars surrounding them. Dark blue eyes glared down at Lucy as the water spirit began to gather her power. Coils of sea water gathering into the simple clay jug held in Aquarius's hands as the spirit continue to rage, "I WISH I NEVER MET YOU LUCY HEARTFILIA! I WISH YOU DIED WITH THE REST OF THE BASTARDS IN YOUR GUILD THAT DAY!"_

 _The mermaid's power came to a head when a tidal wave of ocean was released from the jug and directed at Lucy. The blonde mage could do nothing as her body was battered within the tides, salted water slicing into her skin and pulling her this way and that before spitting her out against a rocky shore. Where had the rocks come from, the mage pondered idly. The pain of her body contacting the hard material nothing compared to the pain in her heart from Aquarius's declarations._

 _Despite not speaking, Lucy could hear herself called back to the deranged water bearer, "I know! I know you've always hated me, but… I love you Aquarius! You were my first friend and I love you!"_

 _Lucy turned to see a vision of herself from that day during the battle of Tartarus. Clothing shredded from fighting a losing battle. Tears running down her cheeks as hopelessness clouded her brown eyes. Her friends were all dying in that moment, sucked into the weird living magic of the Tartarus guild building. Yet there she was, the most useless of all of them, able to do nothing to save them or herself._

 _The emotional pain from the memory made Lucy feel strained, like her skin was too tight and if she could just … claw it … off. If she could just escape from this version of herself... Wind whooshed around the mage and she found herself a drift again. The angry mermaid followed yelling insults and reminding her how weak and selfish she had been that day._

 _The girl slammed to a halt as a glowing fist punched her onto hot coals spread out beneath her. Her back was immediately on fire. Flames burned through skin and then deeply into her muscles as she watched in horror the figure of Leo the Lion in all his power prowl towards her. His main of burnt orange hair was flowing down his back, the gold of lion's eyes shined under the cover of his bangs, and his body filled in golden armor fit for the leader of the Zodiac spirits. He pulled a sword and pointed at Lucy's heaving chest._

 _"As leader of the Zodiac Spirits, I can no longer allow such a master as you to hold any keys. A list of your faults is as such: You selfishly crushed a Zodiac key to save mere mortals; You used your spirits as shields in your battles when you were too weak to fight yourself; You exposed not only your own spirits but another's to the demonic power of the eclipse gate, causing global catastrophe; You abused the master-spirit bond by calling on spirits outside of their contract; You have proven that your word of love and devotion is meaningless. How does the accused plead?"_

 _Lucy could not speak, the pain of the flames burning through her back, igniting her very bones afire made it impossible for her to speak let alone fully understand what the lion spirit was accusing her of._

 _"Your silence is as definite as your guilt. All contracts with Lucy Heartfilia are hereby dissolved. Your sentence for your crimes against the Celestial realm and its people is death."_

 _Wasn't she dying already? Her body felt so much pain as the flames from the coals around her continued to consume her. Was there anything left of her to destroy? Lucy found that she didn't mind her fate, not anymore. Leo was right, after all. She had betrayed all of her spirits. The lion raised his golden sword to strike her. In an executioner's arch, the sword was brought down, digging through Lucy's physical body and then deeply into her soul. Finally, Lucy could scream._

The celestial mage startled awake as her own scream shocked her from sleep. It took a moment for Lucy to recover her bearings. The train. She was still on the train, headed to the forest where her job was to take place. The train bumped and rocked along the tracks and the blonde couldn't help but rub the spot across her chest were her Lion spirit's sword had pierced her. The spot burned with a dull ache. It felt like an old injury that was acting up due to the deluge of rain that was falling from the clouded sky. She felt a deep ache in the muscles of her back and grimaced as she attempted to stretch.

Sting was next to her, sleeping through the ride in order to keep from vomiting. Riding on trains with Sting was refreshing. Natsu had always needed babying, but Sting simply put himself to sleep and ask if she would wake him upon their arrival. There were a lot of similarities between the white and fire dragons. Both could be overactive children, but Sting seemed to have a depth that Natsu was lacking unless put in dire circumstances. Like when they had sat for the meeting with Makarov and the others…. Lucy couldn't help but be impressed by the way the young man was able to adopt the serious, thoughtful nature of a guild master. Yet as soon as they left for her job, he did a 180 as he jumped and danced around like an excited puppy when she was no longer fighting him on allowing a mage to accompany her. He was a nice balance.

Lucy continued to stretch in her seat for a few more minutes before settling to get comfortable. They still had maybe an hour of track to go before reaching the closest stop to the village where the job request originated from. Lucy pulled her small rolling suitcase out from under the seat in front of her and unzipped the front pocket where she kept paper and pens. It was time for some therapy. Her nightmare was leaving her feeling shaky and uncertain. Writing about it and her fears would help calm her nerves, and she needed to have her head clear for completing the job ahead.

Her nightmares about Aquarius had nearly gone away completely, but everything bad seemed to be rising to the surface of her mind lately. She rubbed at her chest again, the ache still present, but fading now that she was no longer submerged in her unconscious mind. She was actually slightly surprised that of all things she could have dreamed about, her mind had focused on the mermaid and not the fire dragon. It had been hard, seeing him again, especially because he was so … normal. Just Natsu, being Natsu like nothing in his life was missing or changed. She knew that was how things like this worked, but it had hurt more than she'd expected to see it close and personal.

He had treated her like he would any unknown in a room. Not ready to trust. On the edge of attacking for some feigned slight to his nakama. Forgetting all about it as his attention diverted to a possible mage worth fighting when observing the damage left behind in the Sabertooth guild hall. Acting like a child when the meeting in Sting's apartment had started, only to flat out accuse her of being the source of all his problems. And perhaps she was. She was having trouble getting a clear picture of everything that had happened now.

For some reason she had convinced herself that her path would never have to cross with Natsu's again once he'd forgotten her. She had also believed she would be able to disappear from Fairy Tail without anyone giving it a second thought. She had never stopped to second guess what she had done until everything started to fall out from under her. In her grand plan, she would have faded from the guild before anyone realized Natsu had a memory problem, and consequently no one would ever notice the discrepancy. It had been working well for six whole months. She was almost free of everything, but is seemed obvious now where her biggest mistake was. Happy. Levy. Lisanna. She could have quietly faded into obscurity within Fairy Tail if it hadn't been for those three.

She supposed Zeref was another glaring mistake, but at the time she hadn't been aware of it. Soulmates. Zeref had called her and Natsu soulmates. She wondered what he'd meant by that. Stupid Zeref, ruining everything. Accelerating her plans. Making her make mistakes. Showing up at Sabertooth to continue to berate her about her weakness to face the truth. It angered her beyond reason. Why was everyone else allowed to run away and have a good tantrum, but she wasn't. Lucy grumped. Zeref's tantrum in having his family die before he was good and ready for them to had nearly destroyed all of the world and all of magic. He'd run so hardcore from the truth of what happened to his family that he had cursed himself in efforts to bring them back from the dead. Yet she wasn't allowed to just fade away? How was that fair?

Lucy slammed her pen down on her notebook in agitation. Why was she always the weak one? Natsu ran away from his guild and responsibilities for a whole year, but no one blamed him for it or called him weak in his grief. Yet when she tried to get away she was called out and scolded like a bad dog, reminded how useless she was and basically told to go sit in the corner like the 'good girl' she was supposed to be and allow the world to pass her by. Come back Lucy and forgive us so that we can have our guild mascot back and put all the pain we put you through behind us. God! After all this time was she still the rich doll that was only good for being posed and possessed. By making Natsu forget she was trying to not just free the man who she loved, she was also trying to free herself after realizing the unhealthy attachment she'd had to him and his guild for so long.

Lucy took a deep breath. She really needed to calm down and get herself out of this head-space. It was just plain toxic. If she didn't, she knew the darkness of it would pull her spiraling down into a place that was full of gruesome thoughts of blood and death. She couldn't allow herself to be consumed by that when she had a job to do soon. If was allowed to darkness to crowd her, she would be too reckless. She would likely get herself killed. While on some days that seemed like a optimal choice, she wasn't willing to allow that to occur while Sting was with her. She needed to get to her 'happy place' and stay there long enough to get through the next week.

Lucy flipped pages in her notebook and reviewed her list, mentally checking off items she had completed. It was at this point that Sting stirred in his seat, groaning before looking over at what his current partner was up to. He read the title of the list in the notebook Lucy clutched and couldn't help but laugh, "You actually have a list for that?"

Lucy eeped from being startled, but then huffed at Sting, "One can't be too careful."

Sting continued to laugh, "Does it work?"

Lucy looked down at her list and sighed. "No. I still get kidnapped."

Sting burst out in a fit of laughter, all sense of his motion sickness evaporating as he read through Lucy's "How to not be Kidnapped Checklist".

* * *

The demon had received confirmation that Lucy Heartfilia was currently in route to his location. The automated system the Sabertooth guild had in place was a definite convenience. He couldn't help but grin wickedly as he replayed the message:

"The mage… Lucy Heartfilia… has left the Sabertooth guild and is now in transit to your location. Please be prepared to receive… Lucy Heartfilia… and provide further details for… Job Request 112MRA770… Requested by X. Dracon. Mage… Lucy Heartfilia… will have a... navy blue... guild mark on her… right collarbone. End Message."

The demon couldn't get enough of hearing the blonde mage's voice fill in the blanks of the automated recording. He repeated the message again. Her voice wasn't high pitched and girly, rather it was perfectly feminine and slightly lower than average. It was the voice of someone with strength and the ability to have an authoritative command over the mere mortals around her. Soon. Soon that voice and the mage that went with it would belong to him. He glanced at the picture his man servant had provided him. The woman was delicious, no wonder END had been attracted to her from the beginning.

As the recording was repeated yet again, the demon closed his eyes and imagined what the sultry voice would sound like when the girl screamed in perfected agony as she was beaten within an inch of her life. He shivered as his imagination took him places darker than the pits of hell. He wondered gleefully how much she could bleed before she passed out? How long could she suffer before she asked for death? He licked his lips, aroused by the thoughts. Her beautiful body would be spread beneath him and his knife would carve delicate art into her perfect skin and she would scream and she would bleed and it would be magnificent. And when she was broken and empty, she would be his completely, he would fill her completely.

He was absolutely giddy with the prospect. After all the work he'd put in to separating her from her beloved family, he would finally get his prize. He opened his eyes to glance at the small clock hanging on the wall. She should be arriving within the half hour. It was time to get everything ready.

"Mayhew!" he called for the man servant.

A man who looked like he was still recovering from broken facial bones appeared in the doorway to the demon's study. His body was hunched, his clothes black and tattered, feet twisted and dragging underneath him as he walked.

"Our guest will be arriving soon, is everything ready?"

"Yes sir."

The demon eyed his servant before ordering, "Shower and put on something decent. You are the Mayor's butler, after all."

"Yes sir," Mayhew hobbled from the room, and headed to a staircase that went down his basement cell to follow his master's orders.


	34. Chapter 34

Natsu was groaning with his head stuck out a window. He was so out of it that he barely noticed the train pulling to a stop at the West Forest station. All he knew was that he was rudely pulled back through the window without any consideration for his joints, ears, nose, or other extremities, which were bashed and cracked against the compartment window he had been hanging out of.

Natsu was hefted up and over a sturdy shoulder and whisked off the train, Happy trailing behind giggling behind his tiny paws, entertained by Zeref's antics and treatment of his younger brother. Instead of dropping the suffering dragon slayer after reaching the platform, like so many other comrades had done, Zeref quickly moved to a more inconspicuous location, so he could watch for the celestial mage and the Saber to emerge from the train.

Either Zeref was just as terrible at playing ninja as Natsu, or the man was oblivious to how not-hidden he and the pink haired boy slung over his shoulder were. Lucy spotted them out the window before even leaving the train car she and Sting were in. She rolled her eyes, but ignored the two and went about her business. If they were intent on following her, so be it. As long as they didn't get in the way of her job.

Natsu wiggled his way off of his brother's shoulder and began to pout loudly about being manhandled. "You didn't have to rip my ears off, ya know," the disgruntled dragon lamented.

Zeref merely shrugged. "It was the fastest way to exit the train."

"You're a real bastard, you know that, right?" Natsu complained.

"Shhhh," Zeref responded as he watched Lucy glide down the train stairs and onto the platform. Sting following her, looking green but moving of his own volition. Sting looked his way and their eyes met briefly. In reaction, Zeref pulled Natsu down and slammed him into the pavement rather harshly. "You're giving us away, Natsu!" the wizard complained. "You damn pink hair sticks out like a beacon."

"It isn't pink," Natsu groaned from his prone position next to his companion. "You did that on purpose." The fire wizard sat up slowly and rubbed at his cheek, which had rudely met the floor of the platform moments before.

"Payback for your annoying train habits."

"I can't help being motion sick, jackass," Natsu snipped back.

"Sure, but you could at least be a man about it," Zeref's voice was devoid of emotion as he continued to watched the blondes from Sabertooth pick up a map and ask for directions from a station manager.

Natsu finally seemed to grasp what Zeref was so intent on and watched the two start to head for the exit. Lucy smile up at Sting for something he'd said, and Natus felt… angry. Why did he have to follow this no-name mage around like some stalker? He should just go and get her and force her to fix whatever it was she'd done to make him feel all… crazy. For a moment, though, he was entranced. The smile she shared with her partner seemed so familiar, but like it was missing something. A flash of memory abruptly interrupted his musing and suddenly she was smiling up at him, and he realized what was wrong. It was fake.

He examined the memory that was like a photo negative in his mind, not quite clear enough to determine where, when, or why, but he could still see how her eyes crinkled happily, her straight teeth on display, dimples on her cheeks… As she smiled at Sting now, the crinkles near her eyes were missing. And her smile did not spread wide enough to create the dimples his memory conjured up. Was she sad? What was there for her to be sad about? He couldn't hear what they were saying from here. There were too many other conversations and people moving about for him to focus on her voice.

"Come on, let's trail them," Zeref's voice jarred Natsu out of his quiet contemplation.

When the pink haired slayer didn't respond right away to Zeref's request, a rough grab at his scarf and yanked him to his feet. "Hey! Geez, old man, I can walk on my own." Natsu tugged his scarf out of Zeref's hands in a huff, but then he grinned. "I'm all fired up now! Let's go!"

"Old man? Did you? Old?" Zeref sputtered as he chased behind the suddenly hyperactive dragon-boy.

The brothers trailed the blondes at a reasonable distance, using Natsu's keen sense of smell to ensure they were staying on the right trail. It wasn't long until they stopped outside of the mayor's building, and were contemplating what to do next. Zeref was loath to let the blonde out of his sight, least she combust with magic and he miss what had triggered it.

"We need to get inside," Zeref muttered.

This was all Natsu needed to hear before his fists were aflame and he was walking towards the security gate to 'ask' for entrance. Much to the fire mage's disappointment, he was grabbed by his scarf and lead around to the side of the building, where he was grabbed by Happy and flown quietly over the fencing and onto the roof of the building. Happy left to grab Zeref next, which was probably the plan's downfall. Natsu, remembering his job with Duke Everlue, was already melting away the sunroof to the estate's bath and leaping into the space when Happy returned with a rather upset Zeref. Zeref motioned for Happy to stay behind as a lookout ("Aye, sir!") before he attended to his brother.

"Natsu!" he whisper shouted. "What are you doing?"

"Nin-nin Ninja!" was the only reply.

Zeref lept down into the bath where Natsu was currently pretending to be a ninja by hiding behind a towel that, at least at one point, had been folded neatly on a towel rack in the corner. Zeref could help but chuckle as he noticed Natsu's scarf was now wrapped around the boy's head. He looked more like a mummy than any ninja Zeref had ever seen, but for some reason his younger brother's antics brought a smile to his face. He felt like he was seeing a glimpse of Natsu's childhood, something he had missed out on completely. It made him feel warmth flutter through him. Wasn't this what he'd wanted all along?

The two left the bathroom once Zeref had regained his composure and Natsu had snuck out from behind the towel and on toward the door. Leaving the bathroom had dropped them into the mayor's private quarters. The room was painted in bright reds and oranges in patterns reminiscent of flames. This alone would not have made either mage uneasy, but the wall of weapons and torture devices did.

"What kind of job did that girl take?" Natsu muttered. As oblivious as he always acted, and sometimes was, he wasn't ignorant to what some of the devices on the wall were meant for. The mayor was into some kinky, not so healthy (at least for his partner), things. There was BDSM, and then there was whatever the hell this was, which went way beyond that and into the realms of sexual sadism.

"Hopefully nothing that would bring her into this room, though I doubt her traveling companion would allow anything in this room to touch her," Zeref grimaced. He had tortured many in his lifetime, but it was always with magic. Not that magic based torture was any less severe, but he didn't leave visible scars on his victims and nothing was ever sexual about it. Torture, or magical manipulation, was a means to an end.

Natsu wanted to burn the room to a crisp, especially after he spied a shelf filled with video lacrima that were simple labeled with names of women. Whatever this guy did to get off, he filmed it. He re-lived it. He was a sick psycho bastard. The idea of the blonde woman, Lucy, here in this room made something inside him rage.

There they were again, stilled images flying through his brain. Each image was fuel to his fires as he was shown visions of blonde hair covered in blood. Scrapes, cuts, bruises, broken ribs, and dozens of other injuries adorning pale skin, turning what was once a flawless landscape into one riddled with pain and stories of injustices. The power of the images flashing behind his eyes made his head ache and his blood boil. His hands reached to clutch at the side of his head as his knees buckled under the snippets of one Lucy dying for another slid through his mind.

Zeref had been on his way out of the bedroom when he felt the curses in Natsu start to activate. He slowly turned to see Natsu's eyes wild and unseeing claws dug into skin on the sides of Natus' face. A horn was sprouting on the left side, curling slightly as it grew. Something was triggering Natsu's etherious form to emerge. Zeref felt panicked. Had this happened since Natsu had gone against Alvarez? Would he be in control? If what Lucy had said could be trusted, than he should be no different in his etherious form than he would be when activating Dragon Force. But, it wasn't like she'd tested her theory out before cementing her changes into Natsu's soul and thrown away the 'key' so to speak.

"Natsu," Zeref carefully approached his younger brother. "Talk to me, what is going on?"

"Too much," was all Natsu could bare to grit out. He heaved breathlessly as he tried to control what was happening inside his head. His jaw clenched and his teeth pressed against each other so hard he was sure they might crack with the force. "Too many images," he managed to gasp.

"Images, what do you mean Natsu, what is happening to you?"

Gasp. A wheezing breath. Eyes shut tight. Gasp. "Lucy… in so much… pain. I… can't… focus." Gasp.

Zeref was confused. Was he sensing something about the girl? No, that couldn't be it. If Natsu knew a friend was in trouble, he wouldn't be shivering under the pressure of keeping control. He would have just went with it and destroyed everything. Images? Was he seeing images of Lucy? What kind of images? Were they real or imagined?

"Memories!" Natsu gasped.

Zeref's eyes widened. Then he smiled. It would have been a maniacal smile had he not been more happy than vindicated. Once again, he was right. Natsu's memories of Lucy were still there, she hadn't erased them. And it seemed like they were not staying put, wherever she had hid them. If Natsu remembered Lucy everything would work out. Natsu would apologize for being an ass before the war started, Lucy would forgive him because she loved him, and he, Zeref, would get the nieces and nephews he deserved.

Suddenly the floor was on fire and Zeref realized his fantasies of the future would have to wait. Zeref was not a water mage, nor did he have any sort of magic that would easily douse the flames that were now licking at the curtains near the window. He heaved a sigh as he hauled Natsu back through the bathroom and out the window they had come through.

"Wow, Natsu, that was a new record!" Happy cheered. "You were only in there 3 minutes before you set the place on fire!" The blue cat soared around the two mages gleefully laughing at Natsu and Zeref's plight as flames started to greedily reach into the bathroom, devouring the shower curtain and towels as they reached for the window the mages were escaping from.

"I hope Lucy can get out okay," Happy mentioned thoughtfully as he grabbed onto Zeref and hefted both mages to the other side of the fences. Thankfully, they were on the edge of the forest, and Happy was able to deliver the now beastly form of Natsu and Zeref to a spot that was relatively out of sight.

"Can you calm down your flames Natsu, you're catching everything on fire," Zeref whispered. Natsu had burned through Zeref's shirt, his bare torso, arms, hands, and neck were now covered in angry red splotches. Some spots were blistering from Zeref's continued proximity to the wild source of heat that was Natsu.

"Nnghaa!" Natsu cried, forcing himself to regain control. He didn't like this feeling. He had to concentrate hard on something completely mundane to keep his mind from focusing on the images of Lucy that had drowned him so completely just a few seconds ago. Fishing. He focused on fishing with Happy by the lake near his home in Magnolia. The two of them sitting together as the sun set, baited lines sunk into the water, laughing over how weird everyone else was to not just get their food fresh from the source. Happy giggling over how much Carla would like his fish this time.

After minutes passed and Zeref doing everything he could to stop a forest fire from springing up, Natsu's flames were gone. The fire mage felt exhausted. The snippets of memories that had crashed into him were all incomplete stories of he and Lucy. They didn't seem to fit into anything he already knew. When had there been two Lucy's and why had one of them died? Where had they been when he found her bloody and thought she was dead? When had he watched her get beaten while he was helpless to do anything?

His ragged breath was returning to normal, and slowly his horn was shrinking in size. His claws returned to fingers. The last thing to go were the deep red scales that had lined his arms, face, and parts of his chest and back. They seemed to be sucked back into his skin like small knives returned to their sheaths.

"Is that what you meant by Lucy haunting you, Natsu," Zere asked quietly, finally filling in parts of the puzzle that was his younger brother.

Natsu nodded.

"Whaa?" Happy questioned. "Lucy is a ghost after all?"

Zeref rolled his eyes at the cat, although he was thankful for the feline's ability to lighten the mood.

"Nah. I just keep seeing pictures of her in my head," Natsu replied simply, shrugging it off. He playful nature returning as he turned to his flying friend, looking overly serious and said, "You did this, you are making me see things aren't you."

Happy at first reeled back, hurt that Natsu was accusing him of something like that. It didn't' take long before Natsu cracked a grin, and Happy realized the dragon was trying to joke with him. The cat just smile and zoomed around Natsu's head before landing on his shoulder. "I couldn't let you forget Lucy, Natsu!" the little cat chided.

Natsu smiled, "Nah, little buddy, I don't think I've forgotten anything. Whatever memories or visions I'm seeing are probably due to something that blonde lady did. I don't trust her."

Happy face-pawed, and Zeref shook his head in disbelief. Zeref took it all back. This wasn't going to be easy. He would have to fight harder for his right to have nieces and nephews than he realized.

The sounds of sirens were coming closer as Natsu and Zeref turned to observe the Mayor's house producing an obscene amount of black smoke.

"I hope that bastard gets found out," Natsu sneered.

Zeref cocked his head in question, "Found out for what? He may had a different taste for intercourse than you or I, but that doesn't mean he'd done anything wrong."

Natsu grit his teeth, "You couldn't smell it, than, could you? The rotten smell of old blood and fear. I doubt he was doing anything consensual in that room."

Zeref looked back at the burning building wondering if Natsu had created the blaze on purpose. But then he was curious what type of visions he was having of Lucy that could have activated his etherious form if the blaze was, in fact, accidental. He had a little bit to go on, Lucy had been in some kind of pain.


	35. Chapter 35

The next morning Rogue waited outside of the locked Fairy Tail guild hall wondering what exactly he had gotten himself into. Were things so bad that they'd shut down? A sign posted on the doors claimed the building was under repairs, but Rogue found such a blatant lie hard to believe. The guild had had just been rebuilt for what, the fourth time in 2 years. It was practically brand new, what kind of repairs could it possibly need? But then, as Laxus's lightning struck the nearby pavement, causing a dried out bush next to the road to burst into flames, Rogue realized that repairs were not as far fetched of a lie when it came to Fairy Tail mages.

"Ah shit," Laxus muttered as he stomped on the blazing bush until the flames died out. The lightning dragon looked up to meet Rogue's amused eyes and rolled them in annoyance. It was obvious that the man was not accustomed to others witnessing his… clumsiness.

"T'ch."

"Laxus," Rogue greeted, nodding his head in polite acknowledgement.

"Shadow-farts," Laxus grunted.

That was a new one. At first Rogue wanted to rear up and throw down with the over-sized man-mountain of a slayer, but then his sense of humor caught up with him and he couldn't stop the hearty laugh from escaping his mouth. "You win that round for pure creativity," Rogue mused.

Laxus looked at the shadow mage in complete surprise. He had been angry that Gramps had gone behind his back to try and bring back Lucy and to ask for help from Rogue. After his failure to have her forgive him, he'd been especially antsy about getting her to return. The bitterness of Zeref and Natsu going and he having to stay behind had spilled out when Rogue was there to witness the bush burning he'd caused. But now he couldn't help but marvel at how different the slayer was now compared to his brooding self during the Grand Magic Games. The blank face that he associated with the shadow dragon now harbored a secret smile. It was… weird.

Laxus was at a loss of how to continue the conversation, but he was saved from having to when Mavis and Makarov arrived at the guild.

"Where'd dark and gloomy go?" Laxus questioned when the two appeared without Zeref with them.

Mavis cocked her head to the side in puzzlement, "Dark and gloomy?"

Laxus rolled his shoulders in a shrug, "Your hubby?"

"I am not married," Mavis answered in further confusion.

"For gods' sakes! Zeref! Where is Zeref?"

Makarov chuckled at his grandson's exacerbated state. "He and Natsu are trailing Lucy on her job in case further incidents occur."

Rogue glared grumpily at the Fairy Tail mages and muttered, "Sting is more than capable of care for Lucy if another episode occurs."

The others ignored him, though Laxus seemed to agree with his sentiment on some level. "You mean to tell me you let Flame-Freak and Gloomy stalk Lucy? Shit, we are going to owe someone so much money when they are done."

Makarov paled with that thought. The damages if Lucy and Sting argued with Natsu and Zeref would be… He fainted.

Mavis looked upon the master with understanding fondness. "A whole city would need to be rebuild if those four came to a head. Glad I'm not in charge anymore."

Laxus rolled his eyes. "Seriously. As if one Dragneel wasn't enough in Fairy Tail…"

Rogue was the only one who seemed concerned that Makarov had passed out and was now laying ghostly pale on the stairs outside the guild hall. "Ummm…?" But before his concern could escalate, the little master shot back up to a sitting position, as if repossessed, and gasped.

"Right," he exclaimed, "let's get on with this. Laxus, since we know the shadows will react to you, I want you to wait outside until Rogue has had a chance to do an initial review."

Laxus nodded, but posed a questioned, "What if they react to Rogue?"

Mavis answered, "As far as we can tell, the shadows are distinctly reactive to Fairy Tail members, but having Rogue survey the area will help affirm this belief."

Rogue's eyebrow rose. This was getting more interesting by the moment and he found himself eager to push open the guild doors and get down to business. All this hype for what was to come was making him antsy. "Care to open the doors, then we can get started."

Before the elderly guild master could unlock the doors, Laxus posed one more question, "Why haven't they reacted to Gramps, then?"

Mavis and Makarov both shrugged, neither of them had an answer as of yet. They both had similar a hypothesis as to what was happening, but they had agreed to keep silent until more could be conclusively confirmed.

"T'ch. Typical."

Makarov sighed at his grandson's reaction and then unlocked the doors. "Let's go in, shall we?"

The three mages entered the guild hall. Mavis and Makarov held their breath, waiting to see if the shadows would solidify, if Shadow-Lucy would appear once more.

Rogue reached into the well of magic that rested at his core and allowed wisps of shadows to come forth and slide against his skin. He knew without looking that Makarov and Mavis had stayed back, closer to the entrance, either giving him space or fearing what may happen, he wasn't sure.

His eyes were well adjusted to the dim, purple light of the hall, and he watched in amazement as the black ink spots writhed under the ice walls and floor around him. They must have tried using Gray's demon slayer magic, he realized. But he also noticed the cracks in the ice, and he could see the dark swirls gather near the weaken points of the barrier as if assessing it before sliding past to a new location.

Without hesitation, the shadow mage reached out to the moving and morphing ink spots with his magic. If they were indeed shadows, they would react to his magic and he would be able to control and purge them. However, as the first tendril of his shadows pried through a crack in the ice to invade the inky darkness beyond, a loud hissing resounded through the hall. Magic flared against his shadows and cast them violently away from the darkness that had gathered at his infiltration point.

That was a first. Rogue blinked as his magic was thrown back at him so casually. The force of it caused his feet to slide back across the icy floor. The tendrils of his shadows wrapped around his arms and waist as if they were seeking comfort. Odd. More than odd. But it at least confirmed that whatever was haunting the Fairy Tail guild hall was not, in fact, a bunch of shadows. Not even aggressive ones. Nope.

Interesting. He wondered if he could interact with whatever these things were despite their lack of shadowy origin. He cast his shadows out once more, this time he attempted to be… gentle. Instead of directly invading the inky darkness beyond the ice, he hovered his magic at the entrance and sent a pulse of magical energy to convey that he would not harm them, that he was friendly, just curious. Rogue had never really attempted anything like this before, but as he felt magic pulse from the inky black tentacles behind the ice he felt… familiarity. The magic was from someone he knew, and the painful cry that followed the magical pulse could belong to no one else.

"Oh Lucy," Rogue sighed. At his realization, a howling hiss echoed roughly though the room. The inky blobs gathered at the weak point in the ice where Rogue's shadows hovered and slowly seeped through. He thought, that like any liquid, the inky darkness would drip down to puddle on the floor, but was surprised when instead, it hovered. It remained motionless at first and Rogue used his shadow to caress the blob, trying to send comfort to his friend, his guildmate, in whatever way he could because whatever was trapped in his guild hall was some part of Lucy. Some important part of her very essence. When his magic touched the blackness of Lucy's magic, it responded by forming into a hand that caressed his magic in return. The howling turned into a odd sort of sobbing as the black arm lost its form and felt silently to the floor.

He walked over to where Lucy's essence had landed and saw that it had formed into a tiny body, that wept and shivered on the floor. His shadows, having a mind of their own at this point, covered the crying vision in a shadowy blanket. The tiny weeping body whispered, "Thank you, Rogue," before it lost its form and slid back up the ice way and through the crack from which it came.

Rogue watched where the tiny Lucy had disappeared and was stunned into silence. How had this happened? Was this what they had been hinting at when they told Sting that Lucy was broken? How broken did a person have to be in order for part of their very being to get displaced like this? Had this happened on purpose, by accident? Had her pain been so horrible that she had simply ripped herself a part so she no longer had to feel it? His eyes went wide at the thought. He would need to talk to Sting about this. Lucy should probably not be left alone.

Makarov and Mavis were at his side without him realizing they had even moved. He wanted to go to war with them. If this was in anyway their fault he would tear them to pieces for her sake. Whatever had happened to cause Lucy to rip a part like this was not something she deserved. He couldn't help the grinding of his teeth and slight snarl that escaped him. Lucy was his friend. His nakama. She was Yukino's favorite girl-friend at the guild. She brought hope back to M'Lady. She had tamed the assery that was Rufus. She had become the little sister of Orga. Even the secluded Dobengal had taken to her. Other members of the guild were happier when she was around, even through her depression she had brought light to Sabertooth. Yet here was the evidence of how much darkness had truly been lurking in the young celestial mage and it made Rogue's heart clench.

With a measured tone that couldn't hide his displeasure with what he'd found, Rogue asked, "What did you do to Lucy?"

"So, you were able to figure out what is happening here?" Makarov assessed.

Rogue's red eyes turned on the small master and glared, the true dragon slayer shining through at his displeasure. "These are not shadows," Rogue confirmed. "This black ink that spreads through your guild is the leftover essence of someone's pain and grief."

"Someone?" Mavis questioned.

"Lucy."

Makarov and Mavis nodded as if they'd expected this.

"When you said she was broken, that her soul was broken… We never expected it to be this bad. None of the signs showed while she was with us at Sabertooth. But this," Rogue waved his hand indicated the whole of the guild, "this shows how very deep Lucy's pain goes. It is like someone or something ripped the very essence of her pain and grief from her body and trapped it here."

"I was afraid that might be what was happening, but I was holding out for a simpler problem," Makarov answered as he glanced sadly at the swirling turmoil of inky darkness that slithered along the guild walls.

Rogue continued with his findings, having a hard and harder time not straight up punching the guild master beside him, "Whatever reaction you are seeing from the darkness here is a defensive instinct."

"Defensive?" Mavis asked.

"To protect Lucy from being hurt further, the darkness here reacts to certain magics as if it is a direct attack to Lucy's psyche. You can probably expect to have adverse reactions to from her to people who are directly related to her current state," Rogue explained. For the brief moment his magic had reached into the darkness to comfort it, he had been able to gather at least that much information. After all, this blackness was, at least partially, Lucy's subconscious.

"Hey, Gramps, what's happening in there?" Laxus called from outside the guild hall. The tall man poked his head through the door, not daring to actually enter unless told to. He didn't really want to have to revisit the nightmare that had occurred in the hall the last time he ventured in.

"Rogue has confirmed a good portion of what we feared was happening here," Makarov called back. "Don't come any further into the hall. We'll be out shortly to explain."

Rogue turned to leave the hall, only pausing long enough to send one more comforting wisp of shadow through to the underlying essence that was Lucy. The emotional toll of losing her Fairy Tail family had been greater than anyone in Sabertooth had expected. Her need to cut herself off, to disappear even, made more sense to Rogue now. She was missing a part of herself and the parts she still held together were so shattered it was like she was trying to squeeze dry sand into a shape. She had held them all at arm's length because she actually had nothing left of herself to offer. And for Lucy, it was what she could offer people that made her happiest. A simple observation. Rogue was nothing but observant of his nakama.

He left the dark hall and stepped back into the morning sun, squinting as his eye adjusted to the light painfully.

"So, what'd you find?" Laxus asked impatiently, not even waiting for Mavis and Makarov to join them before diving into the questions he had.

Rogue was curious though, what is it they had thought was going on here before he'd come to check it out? So he asked, "What do you think is happening in there?" Rogue gestured to the now empty guild hall as Makarov locked the doors back up.

Laxus glared at the shadow mage. He didn't have patients for games. "Isn't that why you're here? T'ch."

Rogue nodded in agreement then added, "Yes, but I am curious as to what you experienced and what your thoughts were when it happened."

"God, you're just like Gloomy, all scientific and shit," Laxus mumbled vaguely. His eyes searched Rogue's face for a moment, looking for a hint of Zeref's odd mischief. Not finding nefarious intentions, Laxus acquiesced, "Fine. I'll tell you what happened."

The lightning dragon gave as much detail as he could. The oddly jointed appendages that had clawed their way out of blackness. The black lightning that had coated the room before forming into a miniature dragon the vomited up a broken chain made of lightning. He described the odd seizure the creature had gone through before rising again as a naked, shadow version of Lucy. How shadow Lucy was broken, folded in half and backwards as she screeched. Laxus had to pause and took a shuddering breath when he repeated what she had screamed at him.

"She told me, 'You broke it Laxus. Pathetic.' And then she screeched at me to fix it!" Laxus was shaking as he recalled the odd demonic spider Lucy that had scurried across the floor in order to accuse him. "God, it was horrifying. Seeing Lucy, our Lucy like, like that!"

Makarov piped in, "When she appeared for Gray she said something similar, but her appearance was different. When Natsu stormed in, things were… different."

"Oh wait!" Laxus interrupted. "That's what I've been meaning to tell you!"

Everyone turned back to him waiting for him to continue. Laxus snapped his fingers like he was suddenly gifted with an epiphany.

"The chain! When I was at Sabertooth, I saw the chain again," Laxus confessed. "I had just finished watching the security footage of when Lucy lost her shit in their guild hall. It was all messed up because her magic made the feed staticy. When I saw her in the infirmary, we hugged, and I could see a broken chain stretching between us but unable to connect."

"Like a physical chain?" Mavis questioned.

"No, Sting said he couldn't see it. But there was section that was coming out of me and a section that was coming out of her and there were little shards hanging in between the two ends like the chain had been violently snapped."

"It's broken, fix it," Mavis murmured.

"Yeah, exactly. So I asked her how to fix it…"

"And…" Rogue prodded. Sting had neglected to tell him anything about this.

"I told her it was our broken soul link and she wanted nothing to do with it," Laxus muttered. He wasn't happy about that. It wasn't like Lucy to just leave a guild mate hanging like that. It made him a bit mad, actually. He'd said he was sorry, what more could he do?

"Hmm," Rogue pondered. "What was different when Natsu went into the guild?"

"I think you need to share with me what you know, first!" Laxus grumbled. "I told you what happened, now you tell me what you figured out! What the hell are those shadow things?"

"They aren't shadows, for one," Rogue started. "The darkness in your guild is the physical manifestation of Lucy's sorrow, guilt, and grief."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It means…" Rogue started, but was interrupted by Makarov.

"It means that we've hurt Lucy far more than any of us understood."

"Hurt her!" Laxus cried. "I get that I was bein' an ass when she left, but whatever the hell is going on in there," he pointed at the guild, "is some super creepy ass shit that goes way beyond me just being an ass."

Rogue nodded in agreement, "Yes, I would say that the essence of Lucy's consciences that has been left behind here is a cumulative effect from years of hurt, not just one day. What happened the day she left was probably a tipping point of some sort. The last straw, so to speak."

Makarov and Mavis shared a grim face, and then Makarov asked, "Rogue, is Lucy's negative energy able to affect people who stay in close contact with it?"

Rogue shrugged, "Does your grandson's sadness make you sad?"

Makarov's eyebrows raised, but then understood his point. "I see. It affects us because we still care for her. Her sadness is our sadness."

"So how do we fix this? Do we just need the soul links to go back into place? Will that get rid of...," Laxus gestured to the guild again.

"Are you only interested in fixing the guild then?" Rogue asked. The underlying question of 'what about Lucy?' being left unsaid.

"Shit!" Laxus cussed. "It isn't like I don't want Lucy to be happy, but she wasn't willing to help when I asked!"

"It sure seems like you are more interested in just getting rid of what she's left behind than how that might actually affect her, or if she can even handle it. What I'm seeing in your guild should have destroyed Lucy from the inside out, but instead it was somehow ripped out of her, giving her a chance to heal and live. But now she isn't whole anymore."

"Fuck, I get that!" Laxus yelled. "But we can't just not have a guild hall anymore 'cause Blondie's emotions took a shit!"

Rogue punched at the lightning dragon before anyone was able to see him move. Laxus flew back a few feet, losing his balance and falling on his ass in a puff of dust.

"And whose fault is it that her 'emotions took a shit'?! Huh? Oh right, that would be all of you shitheads!" Rogue roared. "Natsu tells her she is an obligation, a burden to Fairy Tail and that nobody here wants her. Gray confirms her fears by telling her they can't be friends anymore because he has a girlfriend. Erza gives her the run around by calling her too weak to be her partner anymore. You push her over, call her pathetic, tell her she should never have been trusted… The rest of you fuckers ignore her and what she gave up during Tartarus to save you fucks! And now… NOW all you want is for her to fix it all for you so you can go back to normal."

The three mages stood, mouths hanging open in silent disbelief at the normally reserved man's outrage.

"Gods! I hope you NEVER get your GOD DAMNED GUILD HALL BACK! I'm out, this shit is ridiculous." Rogue walked away. He didn't want to have to look at them anymore. After everything, somehow Fairy Tail was still blaming Lucy for what had happened. It was Lucy he'd gotten a chance to work Lector into a catnip frenzy, which had loosened up his tongue on what Lucy had talked to him about. The cat didn't remember he'd let her secrets spill, and Rogue was now better informed on the entirety of the situation. There had been more, little things building up over time that Lucy only noticed now as she'd looked back at her time in Fairy Tail, but she had rambled on and one about her hindsight to Lector, and in turn Lector had rambles on and on to Rogue. The shadow slayer realized it was time to bring Sting into the loop. He had wanted to keep his fellow dragon out of it if he could because of the slayer's budding feelings for their newest member, but now he realized that he couldn't do that anymore. They were going to have to protect Lucy from her old guild. He was sure the bastards wouldn't give up until they got what they wanted.


	36. Chapter 36

**A/N: Sorry this is so short, I kind of struggled getting something down today.**

* * *

Sting picked up his lacrima communicator and couldn't help but grimace at the look on Rogue's face. The normally collected shadow mage looked like he was ready to combust in rage. Could what was happening at Fairy Tail really be that bad?

"Hang on Rogue, let me get Lucy over here first," Sting answered calmly. After the fire at their client's, the mayor's, home (cough Natsu cough), the mages had helped the Mayor and his odd butler find a room for the night as the local authority combed through the embers of his home in search of clues. Sting and Lucy had decided to share a room with two double beds in the same hotel so that they could continue their meeting with the client in the following morning. So, as of now, Lucy was down at the Hotel's free breakfast buffet talking to the client about the beast that had been terrorizing the lumber yards and forest surrounding the small village.

"Where is she?" Rogue asked after a few deep breaths.

"Down with the client. Our stalkers started a fire on the upper levels of the Mayor's home, so we had to wait for some legal bullshit to be processed before we finished the job review with the guy."

Rogue just nodded. He wasn't surprised to hear that Natsu and Zeref had followed them into their clients house, however he had hoped the two would have had more restraint. Maybe they were that desperate to make Lucy fail so that she'd be open to going back to their guild. Bastards.

"I'll be back in a minute or two and then we can talk," Sting added. He placed the communicator down on the bedside table that rested between the two double beds in the room, grabbed a silver room key, and then headed out the door to get Lucy.

When they had first met the Mayor the day before, Sting had been rather antsy about leaving Lucy alone with the guy. He looked young enough to be in his early twenties, freshly out of his teenage years. But his hair was white, messy, and stuck up like he just rolled out of bed. His eyes were a weird hazel-green and seemed weirdly familiar. His smile had been sharp and filled with teeth out of a nightmare. He had been about the same height as Sting. The man's build was well hidden under a tailored black suit, but if Sting were to guess, he would say the guy was packing some muscle under there. Whatever the guy's appearance was, Sting didn't truly get the heebie jeebies until he observed the predatory way the Mayor grasped Lucy's hand, brought to his lips, and kissed her. The gesture would normally come off as charming, but the Mayor had looked like he'd just gotten a hold on a prized possession. Sting had wanted to jump into the mix immediately and force the man to back off, but he knew Lucy could handle herself and would never forgive him if he stepped on her toes during a mission he wasn't supposed to be there for.

Sting hadn't liked the guys name either. Xavion. What kind of name was that? He told Lucy to just call him 'X'. Like just the letter. X. Sting rolled his eyes. He didn't like the guy. And his weird ass butler looked like some sort of caged animal. Frightened. Pleading. Beaten. Sorrowful eyes that followed Lucy like he wanted desperately to tell her something, but then a jittery glance to the Mayor would have him nearly jumping out of his skin in terror.

According to Sting's observations, the Mayor WAS the monster here.

He found Lucy just finishing up with her meeting. Xavion and his butler were gathering their files and packing the materials away into a black, leather case. Lucy was smiling nervously as she bowed her head in respect to his authority and waved goodbye. Sting waved his arm over his head to capture his fellow blonde's attention. When she saw him, her fake smile faded and instead she opted to bite on her lower lip. Sting pitied the poor appendage for the amount of abuse its owner was applying.

As she neared, Sting called, "Rogue's on the line, he wants to discuss his findings, I think."

Lucy nodded and walked a little faster to her Guild Master's side, then the two of them headed up to their shared room. When they entered, Rogue was pacing around the communication lacrima's screen. Lucy could feel his irritation through the device. Whatever he'd found at the guild must have been worse than she'd thought.

"Rogue, I got Lucy, what'd'ya find out?"

Rogue stopped and looked towards the two mages. His eyes stayed on Lucy, studying her before he shook his head as if to clear his thoughts.

"Lucy," Rogue started, "we need to know all of it now. What is happening in Fairy Tail's guild hall… Did you do that yourself?"

Lucy's eyes widened, but her confusion with his question was clear. "What? Do what?" This time she wasn't playing dumb. When Laxus and Sting had brought up her soul being broken before the infirmary incident, she had wanted to hear what they knew, so she acted like it was news. She had felt the fissures and cracks inside her for a while now, even before Tartarus, but Bickslow had confirmed how severe it had gotten when she was leaving the guild. This time, however, she had no idea what Rogue was getting at.

"The 'shadows' in their guild hall," Rogue was staring at her, taking in her every movement as he spoke. It wasn't that he didn't trust Lucy, but he knew that she had been only letting bits and pieces of her traumas out. And now he needed to know if what was happening in Fairy Tail was of her own doing or… something else.

Lucy glanced between Sting and Rogue. "What shadows?"

Sting took a deep breath, but there was no scent of dishonesty-no sweat, no racing heartbeat, no trembling, no rapid eye movements, just confusion and curiosity.

Sting nodded his head at Rogue to indicate she was being honest. There was a part of Rogue that had hoped she had done this to herself because that would mean that there wasn't something else at play here. If she had removed a part of herself they could slowly help her fix it, but if someone else had done this to her, well, it just made things more complex. If someone else had control over Lucy's essence being trapped in her old guild, then it was possible she would never be able to put herself back together, never heal. Why her, though? Why was it always Lucy?

Rogue did he best to put the anger he was feeling at Fairy Tail aside as he took his time to explain what he'd found in their guild hall. "Lucy, there is basically a part of you that has been broken off and trapped in that guild."

"But why?" Lucy asked. "What good does that do anyone?"

"It is hard to say," Rogue answered. "You could have done this to yourself unconsciously. Someone else could have done it to 'save' you from self destructing. Or maybe someone out there wants you to be broken?"

"Shit!" Sting cussed for the twentieth time as he listened and processed Rogue's findings. He couldn't help but watch the celestial mage from the corner of his eyes. What the hell could have created such a deep scar on her psyche? He knew of course that having the person you trusted most spit in your face would be pretty heartbreaking, but what Rogue was describing was beyond that.

"So what do we know," Sting asked trying to gather everything together. "We know from Makarov and others that Lucy's soul is broken. We now know that a part of her essence, everything dark and awful, has been somehow trapped in her old guild hall. What else?"

Lucy added, "We know that someone this had affected my magic?"

"Right, anything else?"

Rogue pondered for a bit, "Laxus mentioned something about broken chains and soul links."

Sting nodded, "Yeah he was going on about that when he was in the infirmary with Lucy and I. Lucy had a soul link with almost all the mages in Fairy Tail, apparently, and most of them are broken. Laxus seemed to think he could see the broken link between them when he was touching Lucy."

"Shit! That many soul links? How did that even happen? Lucy?"

Lucy shrugged, "I knew I had fractures in my soul, but I didn't realize they were being caused by soul links breaking. I didn't even know I could do that…."

"Who know about soul links?" Sting inquired. "Maybe there is something there that we should investigate. It seems unnatural for things like that to just appear without there being a deep bond."

Rogue nodded in agreement, "I will contact Gajeel and update him. He wanted me to keep him in the loop about what I found."

"Bickslow," Lucy said.

"What?" Rogue asked confused.

"Talk to Bickslow, he's a Seith mage. He can see souls. Gajeel?"

"Yeah, saw him at a bar last night and he was a bit pissed the old man hadn't asked him for his help. I casually inquired. Makarov said he didn't want to expose Gajeel to what was happening."

Lucy looked confused at that, but let it go. She glanced at the clock and realized that she would need to start heading out for her job soon. The client, Xavion, said that beast was the most destructive at night, but it always left tracks. She was going to see if she could get help from Loke to track it down.

"I'm going to have to get going here soon," she told the others. "Keep me in the loop."

"Uh-uh, Blondie, you ain't going off without me," Sting chided. "Don't think I don't notice what you're doing."

Lucy scowled. "I'll be fine."

"I know that, but if something sets your magic off you might need help getting back to the hotel. I promised I would not interfere otherwise, and I'll keep my word, but I can't help you if I don't know where you are."

Lucy wanted to pout, but he had kept his word so far, and she wasn't totally adverse to his company. "Fine. Bye Rogue. Get your stuff Bee, and let's go."

"Bee!?"

Rogue roared with laughter before the connection was abruptly cut.


	37. Chapter 37

Rouge had to wait until he calmed down. Bee! Seriously. Why hadn't he ever thought of that. He couldn't help but be impressed by Lucy more and more. The girl was literally being held together by sure will power, some tape, and maybe a paperclip, but she was still here, functioning, making jokes, and doing her best to remain alive and human. He could only imagine what would happen to him. Hah! He knew what would happen to him, he'd had a front row seat to the shadows that would consume him if he'd gone through only a sliver of the pain Lucy had. And all that happened just form losing his cat. Granted Frosch was practically his entire world apart from Sting… and Yukino. Maybe he'd give her a call after speaking with Gajeel. To check on Frosch, of course.

Rogue refocused on the communication lacrima and sent his magic into the crystal in an effort to contact the heavily pierced iron dragon slayer. His surprise was quickly masked when a head of blue hair popped into view.

"Hey there Rogue! Gajeel said you might call. He's in the shower!" the solid script mage smiled at him. "Oh wait…" she turned her head to the side listening, "The water just cut off. If you could hold a minute, I'm sure he'll be anxious to talk to you."

Rouge just nodded, barely hiding a smirk. The lug head had finally made a move, it seemed. Rouge was happy for the closed off dragon. The iron slayer was seriously emotionally stunted, more than Rogue ever was. It was a miracle the man had finally admitted to himself that there was something between himself and Levy. He wondered how long ago the two had finally stopped dancing around each other.

His lacrima showed a view of an empty room since Levy had dashed off to inform Gajeel of his call. A minute later, the gray and black exceed called Lily jumped up into view.

"Good morning Rogue," the cat greeted solemnly. "I assume that you have news of what is happening to share with Gajeel."

"I do, Lily. Things are not good," Rogue gave the small creature a half hearted smile.

"Gajeel will be here shortly. He is getting dressed."

The short blunt clips of information were curious to Rogue. Frosch tended to act so childlike and Lector was as immature as Sting. Seeing an exceed who acted like a mature adult was weird to him. He wondered where Gajeel had found Lily. Rogue had never asked, but the curiosity was killing him. How come Lector and Frosch couldn't transform all humongous like Lily did? Rogue tried to picture his tiny, frog obsessed Fro turning into a giant battle ready monster and the image had him holding back laughter. It was so unlikely. Frosch growing and ripping out of his frog suit like some sort of monster only to sit and cry because his suit was ruined.

Rogue was roused from his day dreaming as Gajeel's serious, gruff voice filled his ears. "Okay shadow-farts, tell me what'cha got."

"Huh," Rogue responded, "must be a Fairy Tail thing." Here he thought Shadow-Farts would be a nickname claimed only by the lightning slayer, but apparently more of the guild had taken on the moniker than he'd realized.

"T'ch, come-on kid, what'd'ya find out," Gajeel replied annoyed at Rogue's hesitation to brief him on the situation.

"Is Lu-chan going to be okay?" Levy called from the background.

"Oi, Shrimp, I thought I told you to get lost!"

The blue haired, curvy woman, glared over at Gajeel with an aura of danger radiating off her petite form. "I will NOT be leaving. This is about Lu-chan. I can help."

The determination and downright evil glare focused on Gajeel made Rogue shudder. Yukino just didn't have it in her to be that terrifying and he was glad. He had see Lucy look that way at Sting to get her way and wondered if there was a training camp in Fairy Tail that focused on turning their female mages into demons.

"T'ch," was Gajeel's only reply. Levy smile triumphantly and moved closer to the communication lacrima and stared intently at Rogue.

"Well!" she demanded.

"Right. I don't know everything, but I have a good ideal about what has been happening at your guild hall and how it relates to Lucy," Rogue started. "The shadows that took over your guild hall are physical manifestations of Lucy's negative feelings. From what I have been able to piece together, Lucy has suffered from a severe psychotic break, and somehow, before she could self destruct from the pain, all of the negativity was ripped from her and trapped inside the guild hall."

"Oh my god, poor Lu-chan," Levy whispered to herself. "Those shadows have been gathering in the guild hall since we rebuilt it when the guild was reinstated, before Alvarez made their move."

"That long?" Rogue sputtered. "H-how?"

"Shrimp! What'd'ya sayin'? I never saw them until recently."

Levy held up a hand since Rogue and Gajeel were talking over each other after her declaration. "Yes that long," she said in answer to Rogue. "I'm not sure how, but I'm guessing something happened during Tartaros that she neglected to tell anyone. That was when things started to shift with her." Levy looked at Gajeel, "It was only one shadow, and it followed Lu-chan around, but it eventually disappeared. I figured it was just some sort of trick with one of her spirits, so I thought nothing of it. Then most showed up, especially after the war with Alvarez and Acnologia. I asked Loke about it once, but he wouldn't answer me."

"Aquarius," Rogue whispered.

Both Gajeel and Levy looked at Rogue. "What does Mermaid-bitch have to do with this?" Gajeel asked. His eyes narrowed at the shadow slayer, not liking the fact that someone outside of Fairy Tail knew more about Bunny-Girl than he did. He was a dragon after all, and the blonde bunny was a part of his family. Dragons were protective of their family above all else.

Rogue felt uncomfortable. Didn't they know? He couldn't remember what Yukino had said about it other than the slap in the face he'd felt knowing what Lucy had given up to save the people who turned on her. He shifted under their stares as his mind raced. If what Levy said was true, than either Lucy's break down had been a long time coming and the shadows were a self defense mechanism the girl had no control over. Or. Or. Well he could fathom the idea that someone had been working underhandedly all this time just to rip Lucy to shreds. Lucy was cool and all, but why her?

"Rogue, what did you mean when you said Aquarius?" Levy inquired loudly. Her voice sounded frantic. "What happened to Aquarius?"

Rogue let out a breath. If he could trust anyone in Fairy Tail still, he knew it was the three he was in conversation with. They had nothing but Lucy's interests in mind. "Lucy sacrificed Aquarius during Tartaros to save all of Fairy Tail from Mard Geer's Alegria curse."

"What do you mean sacrificed her? Is Aquarius dead?" Levy paled as she spoke.

"She had to break Aquarius's key in order to summon the Spirit King to battle Mard Geer and save everyone. As far as I know, at least what Yukino said, Aquarius is alive, but she is stuck in the Celestial World."

"Bunny-Girl summoned the Spirit King?" Gajeel whispered. He looked to Levy to see if his assumptions of that being rare and a mark of power were correct. Levy's eyes were filled with tears and Gajeel was suddenly way out of his depth. Crying people, cats, things… were not his expertise. He wrapped an arm around his Shrimp's waist and tugged her down onto his lap as she continued to leak fluid from her eyes.

"Lu-chan…" Levy whispered. Her hand covered her heart as a lonely tear slipped from her eye. "Aquarius was her mother's key, Lucy's first zodiac spirit. She always thought of Aquarius as a second mother."

"So, that's where this shit began, then," Gajeel said. He sounded apathetic, but he was anything but. Learning what Bunny-Girl did to save the likes of him made his heart ache with sympathy.

Rogue nodded, "I guess so. I'm sure that the guild disbanding afterwards was just the little bit extra needed to push her over the edge. We're not sure how the shadows came about, however. Like I said, her negativity was ripped out of her, but we don't know why or how. She denies knowing anything about it."

Gajeel looked like he was in thought, "So what? She did this to herself and doesn't want to admit it. Do the shadows do anything beside make the guild dark as fuck?"

Rogue shook his head, "I don't think she did this to herself knowingly. Her face conveyed surprise and stress when I asked her about it…." Rogue trailed off for a moment before continuing. "The shadow will manifest into forms of Lucy accusing people of breaking "it" and needed to have "it" fixed. From what Laxus described, it is actually quite terrifying."

"What is she talking about? Fix what?" Levy asked.

"Your Guild Master and that Mavis woman, along with myself have drawn similar conclusions, I believe. She is talking about the broken soul links she has with members of your guild."

"Soul links?" Levy questioned. "When did she make soul links with the members of Fairy Tail?"

Gajeel shrugged. "Could ask Bicks about it, I guess."

Levy nodded in agreement. "I can call Lisanna and ask her to have Bickslow stop by."

Gajeel lifted the tiny girl from his lap and then she dashed out of the room. Gajeel and Rogue sat in silence. Lily was perched cutely on top of Gajeel's head and the image of the grumpy slayer with a kitten resting on his was almost too much for Rogue. Despite the serious nature of their conversation, the image of the cat and dragon were just too contrary to Rogue's imagination that he could help the half smile that tugged at his lips.

A minute later Levy was back. "Lisanna says that Bicks is out with the Thunder God Tribe but that he'd be back later tonight."

"Shit timing," Gajeel mumbled gruffly.

"Rogue," Levy stated, "how is Lu-chan? I want to come visit her soon, do you think she'd be okay with that?"

Rogue genuinely smile, "Lucy is on a job. Sting is with her in case her magic goes berserk again. Zeref and Natsu are trailing them. She would lov..."

"Whaa!? Zeref and Natsu are with Lucy?" Levy question loudly. Here brown eyes were wide.

Rogue cleared his throat, "Uh. Yeah. Zeref is determined to not let Lucy out of his sight, it seems, until he can get her back to Fairy Tail for a, and I quote, experiment," Rogue shuddered at the thought of Zeref getting his hands on the blonde. "And Natsu doesn't trust Zeref to be alone with anyone, so he is following along, bickering, I can only assume."

"Does Salamander remember Bunny-girl?" Gajeel questioned.

Rogue shook his head, "It is honestly hard to tell. He seemed annoyed with her and was blaming her for stealing Happy. He generally seemed to treat her as an unknown threat to himself. I don't know if that is because he knows something the rest of us don't or if it is because he doesn't remember who she is."

Levy seemed puzzled. "This whole thing with Natsu losing his memories is just weird. I wonder what caused it?"

Rogue looked surprised, "She didn't talk to you about it before she left?"

"Hmm? No. I didn't even realize that something was wrong with Natsu until he came back to the guild a week ago. Why? What do you know?"

Rogue wasn't sure if he felt pleased that Lucy seemed to trust Sabertooth more with her secrets than her old guild, or if he felt guilty that some of her closest friends were left so in the dark. Did he have a right to tell them any more than he already had? He kind of felt bad spilling the beans about Aquarius, did he have the right to say anything more?

"Shadow-farts, if I find out you're hidin' things from Shrimp here…" Gajeel started. He looked menacing as his pierced eyebrows scowled and his arm subtly spouted scales. The treat was clear.

"Lucy was the one who erased Natsu's memories about herself," Rogue spat out before he could regret it. He winced as Gajeel blew a gasket and Levy screamed back, "YOU'RE LYING!"

Gajeel was now covered in his iron armored scales as his anger at Rogue's revelation caused a crack to form in the communication lacrima from the magical surge. "Bunny-Girl would never betray nakama like that." Gajeel's hard glare met Rogue's unwavering stare through the communication device. Gajeel's denial battled the truth that was plainly shining in the shadow dragon's eyes. Gajeel's teeth ground together. "Explain," was the only thing the slayer was able to spit out.

Rogue felt like shit now. He was airing his friend, his guildmate, his nakama's dirty laundry. It wasn't right. If Lucy hadn't confided in Levy and Gajeel, then what gave him the right to keep spilling out her secrets. Too late now, he supposed. He needed to learn to keep his mouth shut, but Gajeel had been such a major influence on his childhood that he couldn't help but follow the larger-than-life iron slayer's orders. Although, it wasn't like he knew everything himself. Afterall, he only knew second hand what Rufus and Minerva had pulled out of the blonde before shit hit the fan. Giving the highlights of what he knew wasn't really all the personal of a breach.

Rogue nodded to himself after deciding what to say. "Look. I don't know everything, just the highlights."

"NO!" Levy yelled again. "I DON'T WANT TO HEAR THIS!"

"Oi, Shrimp!" Gajeel called after Levy as she stormed out of the room. Rogue couldn't blame her. Gajeel turned an even fiercer glare towards Rogue, the iron scales coating his body seemed now leaked whips of shadow. "Tell me what you know quickly."

"Basically, all I know is that Natsu said some pretty serious shit to Lucy. It was bad. When Lucy had the chance while rewriting Natsu's book, she omitted herself to some extent so that he would no longer remember her."

"Book?" the word in association to the flame-headed idiot seemed to spark something in Gajeel's mind. A shadow of a thought that was just out of reach and too miss-formed to truly be meaningful whipped through his mind before melting into nothingness.

"The book of END. Natsu's book," Rogue clarified. He thought back to the conversation Rufus had recited to him, Sting, and the others. He couldn't recall if Lucy had mentioned anything about altering other memories. He'd have to ask Sting about that, maybe the white dragon remembered.

"The demon?" Gajeel questioned. "What's that got to do with this."

"Nothing, I suppose," Rogue lied. "Just know that Lucy had an opportunity to make Natsu forget her and believed that it would be for the best if he did. That is really the entirety of the story."

Gajeel's eyes narrowed as if he sensed Rogue's lie even through the communication device. Instead of pursuing it, however, the iron dragon gruffed out a "Shrimp won't be happy with that" and the connection was cut off.

Rogue felt stressed and found his hands unconsciously scrubbing at his face. That hadn't gone as expected. He had assumed that Gajeel and Levy had known at least about Aquarius and the fight Lucy had with Natsu. Maybe Lucy's broken-ness had been accentuated by her inability to open up to anyone about it. But why hadn't she at least talked to Levy about any of this? He knew from Yukino that Lucy had regular get togethers with Levy and a girl named Lisanna, so why hadn't they known at least the bare minimum?

He wanted to call Lucy and Sting back and ask the girl himself, but he knew she was too busy with her job to stop and answer questions. Maybe Yukino knew. The shadow dragon sighed deeply as he looked at the communication device and debated calling the silver haired celestial wizard. He wondered how close she had gotten to Lucy? It seemed like they had become fast friends, yet it was Minerva and Rufus who had been the ones to pull any real information from the blonde. Should he call one of them?

Reaching a decision, Rogue sent his magic into the cracked device and called Yukino. Within seconds the sweat face of his dear celestial summoner was looking back at him through the lacrima and Rogue felt lighter.

"Yukino," he greeted with a smile.

"Rogue-kun!" Yukino smiled in return. "Is everything alright?" Her smile turned into a slight frown as she took in Rogue's hunched shoulders.

"Not really," he answered. He then explained his observations from the Fairy Tail guild hall and his conversation with Gajeel. Yukino listened quietly and attentively. He ended the explanation with, "I just don't understand why they seemed so clueless about what was going on with her. Even Levy, her friend!"

Yukino shrugged her shoulders. "It makes perfect sense to me," she said.

Rogue raised an eyebrow at the young woman hoping it would trigger an explanation. When it didn't he asked, "How so?"

"Well think about it," Yukino said dully. "Lucy's biggest fear is abandonment. When Fairy Tail fell a part after Tartaros, not a single member of her guild wanted her around. When she reached out to them, then never contacted her in return. She gave up and just tracked their comings and goings from news reports. They left her. They abandoned her. Her biggest fear."

"How do you know all that?" Rogue wondered.

"I ran into Lu-chan a few times out on jobs. We talked about it a bit. She was a mess. I'm pretty sure that she never trusted anyone in Fairy Tail again after that. When the guild got back together she wrote to me saying that she was happy but incomplete. Nothing was the same. She couldn't bring back the feeling of family she used to share with her guildmates."

It was like a light went on over Rogue's head as understanding dawned on him. She had given up her second mother and they left her. Even when they were all back together, she had still been scared that they would leave her again or may not even want her back. Then her fight with Natus was like a final nail in the coffin. Her faith in her family broken permanently.

"Thanks Yukino. That helps me understand better," Rogue admitted.

"You know, I invited her to join Sabertooth back then, but she refused. I was surprised but happy when she came to us. I wanted to prove to her that there was a place for her where people would never leave her behind."

Rogue smiled at that. Trust Yukino to feel so strongly about the bonds of their guild. It warmed him. Now that Sabertooth was free from Jiemma, the guild had flourished and bonded together to form something new and unique. They were stronger than they had ever been.

"Hey Rogue," Yukino's soft voice interrupted his musing. "Do you think Lu-chan will be okay?"

Rogue didn't hesitate, "Yeah, I think she will be. She's strong."

Yukino nodded, but her teeth caught her lower lip and bit down. She was right to be worried. Rogue was too, but he had faith in Lucy. "Have faith, Yukino."

She smiled back at him. "Yes. Faith."


	38. Chapter 38

"Do we even know what job Lucy's supposed to be doing?" Happy asked curiously as he flew over Natsu and Zeref's heads. Natsu was trailing behind Lucy and Sting using scent to keep track of their movements. The dark wizard glided silently along behind him, ignoring the cat's chatter.

"Does it matter?" Natsu huffed. He took and exaggerated breath in through his nose and easily picked out the uniquely stardust feeling that accompanied the wildflower scent of the girl he was following.

"Hmm," Zeref hummed in agreement with his younger brother. "We are simply here to observe. Well at least I am."

"About that," Happy began to ask, but was cut off when Natsu signaled for them to pause. They were closer now and the voices of the mages they were following floated on the wind.

Natsu, not one to be subtle about anything, was prepared to storm through the brush of the forest they were in so they could get whatever Zeref needed to 'observe' over with and go home. The longer Natsu was immersed in the celestial mage's scent the weirder his head felt. There was cotton clogging up his normally sharp, battle ready mind and he didn't like it one bit. Perhaps his brain was still sorting out the odd download of memories that had happened the previous day, he couldn't be sure. What he did know, was that he was suddenly pulled into a crouch by Zeref's abnormal strength and was unable to move forward. Happy landed heavily on the dragon slayers head.

Natsu opened his mouth to complain, but Zeref's free hand covered his mouth before he could utter a sound. The older Dragneel glared at the younger before turning his gaze back towards the direction of the voices.

"I don't know what to tell you Princess, I've never seen tracks like these before," a male voice filled with sly confidence stated. "We can keep following them, but I'm worried about what is at the other end. What did the Mayor tell you again?"

There was a pause and then a small feminine voice stated, "He didn't know much, just what the workers had said. He wasn't even sure if there was only one attacker or multiple. It seemed like all the witnesses saw something slightly different."

"I don't like that Mayor guy," an arrogant voice floated towards the squatting brothers. Natsu couldn't agree more with the arrogant voice. He figured it belonged to Sting, yeah, it kind of sounded like the cocky bastard from Sabertooth. He was having trouble, however placing the other male voice.

"We know, Sting!" The girl, obviously Lucy, sounded annoyed. "You've only been saying that since we left the hotel. Sure the guy is…"

"Creepy? A shark toothed monster?"

"Odd," Lucy said sternly ignoring Sting's interjection.

"Odd?! You're kidding me right! Loke, back me up here!"

Loke? Natsu searched through his memories. Loke! The orange haired play-boy. Hadn't he left the guild? There was something about that memory that felt foggy and wrong. He knew he remembered the blue-tinted glasses wearing calling it quits, but there was something else he just couldn't put a finger on. Either way, why was play-boy with Lucy? Did he join Sabertooth too? Why had he called Lucy 'princess' earlier. Natsu struggled. It felt familiar, but he just couldn't figure out why. He head started to hurt and the feeling of static and cotton filling up his mind grew harsher.

"I can only go by what my Princess says, I wasn't present to meet him."

"T'ch."

"Now that I know what to look for, I think I can follow the trail pretty easily, Loke. You can go now."

A sudden pressure and an increase in the feeling of stars and the night sky pushed up against Natsu like a storm. He shuddered. The feeling was comforting somehow and without his permission he felt the fires within him stir and adrenaline shot through his heart making it race with anticipation. Anticipation of what? He was suddenly breathing harshly, gaining the attention of his older brother.

"Natsu?"

"Eeekk! Natsu, you're on fire!" Happy squealed as he jumped into the air, activating his wings to hover above the flame dragon.

"Eh?" Natsu looked at his hands surprised before forcing his fires to retreat. He closed his eyes and focused on calming his body. Why had he reacted that?

"Did you remember something, Natsu?" Zeref asked quietly.

Natsu shook his head in denial. "No. I don't know what that was."

"You're magic seems to response instinctually to Lucy's," Zeref observed, hearts filled the dark wizards eyes has pink and blonde haired nieces and nephews danced in his head. "Soon!" was all he said aloud, grinning like a maniac.

"Soon what?" Happy asked, only to be ignored by the dark wizard once again.

"I wonder if her's reacts similarly to yours?" Zeref mumbled. "An experiment for later, of course," the eldest Dragneel murmured softly.

"Oi! I ain't one of your damned experiments!" Natsu cried, having heard Zeref perfectly fine.

"Actually," Zeref began, but then stopped himself. Perhaps now was not the time to bring all that up. "Their on the move again, let's follow. We need to stay close"

* * *

Erza couldn't help herself, she had to see for herself the phenomenon that Gray described in the guild hall. She had tried to be patient, waiting for the Master to call for her aid in the matter, but the old man had been busy outside of the guild for over a week now and the scarlet haired warrior was done waiting.

She stood steadfast outside of the large wooden guild doors and pulled out the key she had swiped from the She Demon earlier that morning. Gray stood angrily to her side, he jaw clenched and arms crossed in front of his bare chest. He'd lost his shirt somewhere at the old guild hall before he'd caught her sneaking around. She hadn't wanted him to know what she was doing, but it couldn't be helped now. At least Jellal hadn't caught up with her yet, she didn't think he would just stand quietly by.

"This is a bad idea, Erza," the ice-make turned demon slayer muttered.

"You don't have to be here. I just need to see it for myself." Erza slid the key into the lock and turned it, the tumbler in the locking mechanism clunks loudly as the lock slid open. The beautiful, scarlet haired woman hesitated only a second before pushing the heavy guild door open and stepping inside.

Gray wanted to follow, but there was almost nothing in all the world that would make him go through THAT again. So he stayed by the open door and kept a look out for his former teammate. The tension in his shoulders as he listened for the sicking cracking sounds of the Shadow-Lucy had made had the ice mage in pain as he stood, waiting. His teeth ground down on each other with so much force, he could hear them creak in protest, but he couldn't help it. He was still terrified from his own experience, and even it it wasn't happening to him this time, the idea of witnessing what was going on in the giant hall again left him numb and feeling fatigued.

Erza stepped further into the dark recesses of the hall. It was odd seeing it so empty and cold, both literally since Gray's ice still coated the floors and walls, and figurative since the darkness erased the feeling of home that the requip mage usually felt when here. She took her time, stepping slowly, waiting for something to happen. She froze when a loud hissing whipped past her ears and echoed off the frozen walls.

As the early noise faded, Erza attempted to take another step forward. She couldn't let some intangible shadow creature get the best of her, or to mock Lucy. Her foot felt heavy as she lifted it to take the next step. Alarmed, Erza attempted to reach for her magic, calling for her Black-Wing armor. She felt a glimmer of her magic flow around as her current attire was whisked away. Yet before her armor could take shape, her magic was cut off completely, and her foot came stomping down onto the floor as she became immobilized.

"Not the best way to face a foe," Erza seethed. Caught between requips, she was basically nude, with no magic, and her feet glued to the floor. Her words were answered by another hiss. The noise swept past her like a breeze, ruffling her hair and causing her skin to prick with goosebumps.

"Sssoo beautiful, Tit-taann-iiaa."

"Come on out and face me!" Erza called, immediately on edge. What was going on? This wasn't anything like what happened to Gray.

Inky black blotches of shadow started to snake their way down the walls, across the floor and puddle in front of the strongest female warrior in Fairy Tail. Whips of blackness stretched up and out from the puddle before swirling around in an intricate dance, going faster and faster until they were nothing but a blur. A hiss echoed through the hall again as the swirling mass of shadow slowly peeled away like a blooming flower. It was actually quite a beautiful display, but Erza found it hard to appreciate as she anticipated the worst. The warrior attempted to access her magic again, wishing for anything, even just a sword, to answer her call.

"Ssstrippped of your wallsss, Tit-taaann-iaa," the voice was less of a hiss now, instead it was soft and childish. Teasing.

Erza focused on the center of the shadow flower and her eyes widened in wonder. A child! A small shadowed child sitting on the in the center of the flower with her tiny knees hugged against her chest. A chain was wrapped around the child's ankle and for a moment, Erza thought she was seeing herself until her eyes landed on a very familiar side ponytail tied in a shadowed ribbon.

"Lucy?!" Erza gasped. But why was she a child? Erza had the overwhelming need to back away, the situation was nothing like she was expecting. Surprisingly Erza fell backwards, landing hard on her butt. She attempted to scamper backwards, unsure what was causing her heart to race at the side of the chained child-Lucy, but somehow the image was terrifying. But, now all her limbs were frozen to the ground, she could no longer move.

"Biiiiiiggg Ssssisster! I wanna play too!" The child-Lucy exclaimed has her hollow eyes finally met Titania's. The child stood and looked like she was going to run to Erza. The girls pudgy little arms were stretched out wide like she was looking to be picked up or hugged. A smile that could only belong on the blonde celestial mage broke free on the child's face as she attempted to dash forward. Erza shuddered. That smile. Those empty sockets where brown orbs of light should be. The combination left Erza feeling uneasy.

The sound of a chain scraping across the floor and a loud "oomf" accompanied the vision of the child, caught up in chains that had started to move up and around the child's small body, falling to the ground. Then the image of the child flickered.

"Too dannngeerrroussss," a separate voice hissed and the child's smile faded. "Not tooodaay. No sss-t-time. Weak. Burden," the hissing continue. The small child flickered again, in and out of existence as each sentence, each phrase was murmured throughout the room.

"NOO!" the child-Lucy shrieked as she covered her ears and shook her head back and forth wildly.

"Botherssssome. Unwooorthy. Outsssiderrr. Pampeeerrrred Princcessss. Weak!" the hissing continued, insistent. The child-Lucy flashed again, but this time when she appeared, it was the young adult that Erza had come to know and love as nakama.

The shadowed form of her friend appeared as naked as Erza was. The inky blackness that formed Lucy's shape was only interrupted by lines of soft grey that criss-crossed her arms, legs, stomach, and even her neck. The Shadow looked down at itself and fell to its knees as it exclaimed, "The scars, no! Cover them, cover them! They can't be seen. I can't be weak!"

Erza was confused, what was going on? Lucy didn't have scars… But the sight of them made Erza nervous and afraid for her friend. Hardly any of the light grey lines looked like they came from battle. Some were too perfectly spaced, their length and distance between each one the same, like someone had marred the blondes skin in perfect increments using a ruler.

Rather suddenly another shadow form dripped down from the ceiling, puddling slowly together until it formed a replica of the requip mage herself. Erza gasped, what was going on?

The hissing voice that had been taunting the Shadow-Lucy spouted from the Shadow-Erza's replica, "Don't you get it, we don't want you anymore."

While the real Erza knew that she had never said any such thing, she knew she might as well have from the way she had treated Lucy in recent month. The scarlet haired woman looked away ashamed.

"Look at you," sneered the hissing Shadow-Erza, "I don't think you've done it right, you're still here."

Erza looked back at the scene wondering what her shadow counterpart was talking about. Suddenly Erza felt her magic getting pulled away from her and the shadow version of herself was suddenly requiping into her Heavan's Wheel armor. Erza could feel the drain and found herself petrified. If the shadow version of herself could access her magic, what else could it do?

The Shadow-Lucy looked up at the armored version of Erza with surprise written on her expression as a sword was raised high in the air and brought down swiftly. The sharpened blade cut diagonally through the Shadow-Lucy from shoulder to opposite hip before it was yanked out by a grinning Erza.

"NO!" Erza cried from the floor. The shadow version of herself turned to look her way and the warrior found herself trembling. She couldn't move. She couldn't reach her magic. And the grin her shadow counterpart displayed was all blood-lust and murder. It started to cackle before throwing its head back and laughing outright.

The Shadow-Lucy's body slowly started to slide apart, only a thin slab of muscle and skin held her together at her hip. Her top-heavy bosom tipped her forward and her face slammed into the floor. The chain that had been wrapped around her body now lay severed in pieces, crumpled below and to the side of the body.

The Armored Shadow watched with amusement before stating spitefully, "Now it is done right, you were always such a coward. Weak."

Suddenly Erza could feel her magic recoil back, her armor vanished and in the light it produced as it went back into storage her shadow counterpart was gone.

"Gggooogghh."

Erza's eyes snapped down to the fallen body of her comrade as the shadow's lower half's arm stretched out blindly. Its hand patted across the floor until it rested on one of the broken chains, then its fingers clasped the chain and pulled it back toward the half of Lucy that still maintained her head.

"Bbrrroke-ken."

Erza watched horrified as the upper portion of Lucy attempted to lift itself up with the arm attached to it. Slowly and awkwardly the Shadow-Lucy was able to flop to its side and stare deeply into the Titania's eyes. Holes of darkness stripped Erza of any rational thoughts that were left in her brain as the shadow spoke once more.

"Ffffixx it. Pllleaasse."

Then it simply melted away into nothingness. Erza fell limp on the the floor of the guild hall, finally able to move. She reached for her magic, relieved that she could feel it running strongly though her once more, and requiped her clothes. Slowly, the emotionally exhausted and frighten Knight of Fairy Tail lifted herself from the floor and stepped back into the outside world.

"ERZA!" more than one voice exploded in her ears when her feet cleared the outside of the guild. Gray. Mavis. Laxus. Gajeel. Rogue. Levy. Bickslow. Their voices were an unwelcome chorus as the hissing resentments her Shadow had scathingly spoken earlier swam through her brain. She couldn't stop herself as the tears began to fall.


	39. Chapter 39

The white haired, suited man stepped out from behind a thick tree trunk and cut Natsu, Zeref, and Happy's progress. The man grinned baring sharp teeth as he spoke, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to stop you gentlemen right here." His voice was smooth, charming, deep, but his grin was that of a maniac mid-high on a hunt.

"And who the hell are you!" Natsu sneered. "Get out of the way! Or I'll roast ya!"

"Natsu," Zeref quietly warned. The face staring back at them, was one he was all too familiar with, one he had hoped to never see again. The spiky locks of hair, the green-hazel eyes, the genetically altered teeth and jaw that turned the heart warming grin it was supposed to have into something of a nightmare. Xavion.

"What! This guy ain't got nothin' on me. Just move outta the way!" Natsu continued to berate the stranger.

Xavion chuckled, but his eyes never strayed from Zeref. "Recognize me yet, old man?"

"Xavion," Zeref stated.

"You know this creep? Tell him to get out of our way! Sting and Lucy are…"

"Oh don't worry about them, they'll be stopping soon. But I am afraid I cannot allow either of you to interfere any longer."

Natsu growled. He didn't like this man, not one bit. He smelled like the bedroom he and Zeref had broken into at the Mayor's house. He smelled wrong.

"What are you up to, Xavion?" Zeref asked boredly. While there was little threat to himself from the white haired demon, he couldn't help but feel concerned for his future sister-in-law.

"There's no need to keep with the formalities, big brother. Call me X." The man chuckled again as a large black tattoo slowly appeared over his face. It was an X that crossed over both of the man's eyes going diagonally over the bridge of his nose before stopping to frame the edges of his lips. "Or should I say, 'Designation: Ten'."

Zeref's eyes narrowed. Having Xavion appear here, now… In front of Natsu. "I am not your brother, Xavion."

The man's eyes widened in mock hurt, a hand raising to his chest to cover his heart. "Brother! How could you say such things?" Xavion then burst into a full bodied laugh, his hand sliding down his chest to grip his stomach.

"Brother?" Natsu question looking between the two. He squinted at the man named Xavion and then back at Zeref. There was a family resemblance. Wait. Brothers?! "I have another brother!" Natsu exclaimed.

"No," Zeref answered with a deadly calm.

"Yes. We're practically twins," Xavion chuckled, wiping an invisible tear away from his face.

"Twins? What?"

"Oh come now, END, you can't be that naive."

"Stop Xavion," Zeref growled. "Tell me what you are doing here."

Sharp teeth were revealed once again in a dazzling display as he answered vaguely, "Oh, you know. A little of this. A little of that. Stalking down my prey." Lecherous. Murderous. Sharp teeth shined in the afternoon light.

Natsu and Zeref glance behind Xavion, startled but with eyes narrowed as they heard the first scream rise high into the wind. Xavion, too, glanced towards the noise, a frown appearing on his face. "It is a little early…" he muttered to himself. "I no longer have time for either of you, but I suggest you both leave well enough alone and go home. I have everything under control here." Another grin.

Then he was gone.

Natsu was running towards the scream before he could evaluate what was driving him to do so. Zeref was next to him, sprinting through the brush towards…

"That had to be Lucy!" Happy called and soared ahead of them.

The three of them were blown back as a cacophony of magic power blasted through the forest in all directions. Zeref hit the trunk of a tree, ripping right through it before hitting into the ground and sliding on his back until his head was knocked against the hard surface of a boulder. Happy landed roughly in Zeref's arms like he had been shot from a canon. Natsu came flying back more gracefully, twisting in the air to land on his feet in a ready stance.

Another scream ripped through the air, but this time it was male and he was screaming for "LUUUUCCY!" It was Sting. "LUCY! YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN!"

Natsu could feel the fire in him starting to burn and there was nothing he could do to beat back the flames as they erupted around him. Zeref yelped as the heat blistered against him as Natsu sprinted past his prone position.

Time seemed to freeze around the fire dragon as he ran through the trees and brush to reach the girl who had been haunting his thoughts and dreams. The wind created from the magical pressure that had exploded was suddenly gone, the branches in the trees were all bent and frozen in place. Natsu barely had time to notice these things as he finally stepped out into the rather large clearing that had been created by the magical bomb let out by the petite blonde who stood at its epicenter. She looked frozen in time, hair blown back wildly but unmoving in the still air. Head tilted back, eyes closed, mouth opened in a silent scream at the sky. The sky!

It was like the stars and planets had come down onto earth to shine in such beauty that Natsu was left stunned and stuck in place, especially as a larger than life mustache started to appear. Followed by a face half hidden under a helmet, and, as the air shimmered with golden dust, the rest of the armored giant seemed to step out of one plane and into another.

The thunderous voice echoed in the woods as the mustache twitched, "Old Friend. You cannot go on like this. It will rip you apart along with our two worlds." The giant reached down in slow motion. A single finger tapped Lucy's forehead gently, a loving caress.

The giant looked to Natsu, who stood at the edge of the clearing struggling with the foggy cotton like memories that were trying to force their way back into his head.

"Young dragon, you must fix what the other has broken. It is your task," the giant spoke again.

"Fix what? Who broke it?" Natsu yelled, but the giant didn't answer. Instead he started to fade back into glittering star dust. The moment he disappeared, the wind snapped back and the branches that had been impossibly bent, were now ripped from the trees and tosses into the woods. The magical pressure stormed across the clearing, rubbing up against Natsu but no longer pushing at him. Instead he felt like he was being greeted by an old friend, hugged tightly, and filled with warmth. What was happening to him? Why did this girl's magic affect him so oddly? His flames could not be held back as they rose to meet the magic that surrounded him like they were hungry for a meal that had been denied them for far too long. So weird. SHE was so weird.

The images slammed into Natsu so harshly that he fell to his back, his head in agonizing pain.

 _"You're so weird Luce!"_

The phrase was like a key that unlocked a door he didn't even know was there. "GAHHH!" he yelled as he writhed on the ground. The pain was crescendoing into something monstrous that made his very soul feel like it was being cauterized from a wound he didn't realize he'd had. Images. So many images. Feelings. Powerful bonds that could no longer be ignored. The agony reached its peak and Natsu found himself floating in darkness. His flames extinguished.

* * *

As suddenly as it had started, it stopped. Sting managed to gather himself quickly enough, and limped his way back to Blondie. His leg had caught on a root as he had been flung back from the celestial mage. He knew he shouldn't have let her come on this job. She was just too unstable. He growled deep in his throat as his anger for her stubborn attitude made him want to strangle the mage. He wanted to grab the girl and march her right on back to Sabertooth. Someone else could fill in for her job. He wasn't going to let her talk him out of it this time.

He stopped at the edge of the woods, not remembering there being a clearing here just minutes ago. As he observed the space, it became clear, however, that Blondie's magic had leveled the place. He shouldn't be surprised considering the damaged she had cause to their guild hall, but the sheer amount of destruction that she had caused was so contrary to her personality… It just made him feel guilty somehow.

The small blonde woman in question, was currently out cold in the center of the clearing. Sting shook his head at her vulnerable state before hobbling over to the woman and scooping her up into his arms. She was light and it bothered him. Granted he was the great Sting Eucliffe, the strongest mage around, she would always feel light to him, but this lightness was different. He wondered if she had been eating.

As he turned to go back the way they came, his eyes landed on a mess of pink tresses sticking up in the wind-blown grass. He knew the flame-headed idiot had been following them, but he found himself weary to find Natsu with Zeref missing from his side. Had one of them triggered Lucy's magical blowout? Where was the dark wizard? Was Happy nearby? Sting shifted Blondie's weight in his arms as he shuffled over to Natsu's unconscious form. Sting could hear the dragon still breathing, so he wasn't overly concerned, but he wanted the man to wake so he could ask where Zeref was hiding.

Before the white dragon kick the pink haired menace awake, a rustling just to his right distracted him. Zeref, holding a sleeping blue cat, stepped into view. Sting's eyes narrowed taking in Zeref's condition. The mage's head must have been cracked open on something since there was blood clotted in his black hair and staining his neck. He snorted in amusement, "So the monster can bleed."

Sting's words were ignored as Zeref's eyes roamed over Lucy's body. "Is she okay? Was that the same kind of magical output she had at your guild?"

Sting was no about to be friendly with the dark wizard. He didn't care what the Blondie thought, that man was an evil ass. "T'ch. It's none of your business." The white dragon moved to go left, around Natsu's form, and head back to the Hotel.

"Wait!" Zeref called.

Sting had no intention to listening to anything the black wizard of death had to say. So he kept walking. He was stopped in his tracks, however, when Zeref appeared just in front of him.

"I have no ill will towards Lucy, or you. But I must tell you, you both are in real danger on this mission. You must let me take her back to Fairy Tail."

"Like hell!" Sting spat. "She is a Sabertooth mage. If I take her anywhere it will be back to her HOME."

Zeref finally allowed his emotions to show on his face: anger, concern, authority. "There is more going on here than either of us fully understand. She belongs at Fairy Tail. We can protect her."

"Oh and like we can't?" Sting shouted, his anger bubbling over. "Get out of my way. Lucy needs to rest, and she is not going anywhere with you or your flaming-asshole brother."

Zeref gritted his teeth, "You don't understand…"

"No, YOU don't understand. Blondie chose to leave your dumbass guild behind. You guys had your chance and failed. She ain't goin' with ya. Not now. Not ever." Sting stepped around the seething Dragneel and started walking again. This time he was not followed. The closer he was to town, the more the white dragon relaxed. It was an hour later when he reached the hotel, his leg was throbbing in pain and his arms were tired from carrying Blondie in the same position for so long. He couldn't wait to just settle into their hotel room for the night.

His hopes were dashed, slightly, when he entered the hotel lobby to find Xavion, the Mayor, sitting in a plushy chair. His butler stood dejectedly behind the chair, his eyes trained down on the floor, shoulders hunched, face black and blue. Did the guy really have so much confidence in his position that he thought he could display his abuse to his staff so … casually.

Xavion stood when his eyes landed on the unconscious mage held tightly in the dragon slayer's grip.

"Oh my!" the Mayor gasped as he stepped up to Sting, a hand fluttering over Lucy's forehead like he was checking for a fever. "Is she alright?"

Sting rolled his eyes and moved the blonde just out of reach of the Mayor. "She's fine," he answered shortly.

"I hope this wasn't cause by a run in with the monster that is lurking in the woods. I had such high hopes in Sabertooth's ability to resolve the issue." Xavion met Stings eyes. The young guild master recognized the underlying insult and challenge. He really didn't want to raise to the bate the mayor was laying out, but the pride he had in his guild got the better of him.

Teeth gritted together in annoyance, and Sting found himself replying, "You can count on Sabertooth. Blondie is fine. We'll get this all resolved by tomorrow night." He wanted nothing more than to truck Lucy back home, but that would have to wait. They would finish this job, if only to ensure no one else in his guild had to deal with the white haired Mayor.

Xavion grinned, showing off his teeth. "I was hoping to hear you say that. Well I'll be off then." The man motioned for his butler to follow and the two exited the hotel.

Sting's shoulders sagged a bit at he watched the two go. He tightened his grip on the celestial mage. He really didn't like that guy. And he really didn't want Lucy to be anywhere near the man. He heft Lucy up high in his grip before turning to go up the stairs to their room.


	40. Chapter 40

Zeref didn't bother moving Natsu from where he lay unconscious. Instead, he pulled out his communication lacrima from seemingly nowhere and set to contact Mavis.

The usually smiling eyes of his lover were serious as they appeared in front of him when his call was answered. "What's happened?" He wondered.

Mavis glanced to the side side before she answered, "Erza entered the guild."

"How long ago?"

"Within the last 10 or 15 minutes."

"Hmm," Zeref pondered on the information. Erza's entry to the guild corresponded to Lucy's loss of control. The power that had washed over him and the forest was so much greater than he'd expected. He had been able to observe what he'd needed to, however, despite not being close enough to actually see what was going on. The energy that was released from her hadn't strayed far, instead it seemed to swirl upwards. And then.. Was just gone. Like it had been sucked away somewhere. To the guild, perhaps?

"She's pretty shook up. Lucy appeared to her very differently than she had the others," Mavis remarked. "I don't know everything yet."

"Oh really?" he pondered that as Mavis nodded to him. "Still had broken chains?"

"Yes."

"Fix it?"

"Yep."

"It would seem like our assumptions about Lucy's magic powering the shadows were correct. Natsu and I were witness to her magic going berserk about the same time you said Erza entered the guild. But there is something more we need to discuss."

"Did something else happen? Is Lucy injured?"

"Xavion," was the only thing Zeref said in response.

Mavis's eyes were blank as the memories of her last interaction with the man floated through her mind. That man was worse than any darkness or evil that had ever roamed the earth, including Zeref. But he had been quiet and inactive for so long...

"He's here, Mavis. He even approached me."

The young woman's eyebrows creased together. "He's never shown interest before, has he?"

Zeref shook his head. "He wants us to back off of Lucy."

"That is concerning."

Zeref nodded in agreement.

Next to him, Natsu groaned. A hand flopped up to cover the fire dragons face as another groan tumbled from his lips.

"What happened to Natsu?" Mavis asked, getting a glimpse of her brother-in-law (well, sort-of) when Zeref moved to watch over his younger brother.

"I'm not sure. He was knocked out somehow."

"Natsu?" a worried voice purred from Zeref's arms. Happy was started to wake as well.

"He's all right, Happy," Zeref soothed. The show of compassion made the small blonde woman smile from the communication device. She watched contentedly as Zeref moved his fingers gently through the blue cat's fur.

"You're showing your soft side, dear," the maiden chided.

Zeref blushed slightly, but didn't stop his ministrations on the small cat.

"Have you told Natsu, yet?" Mavis asked, her voice turning serious.

"I will have to. Xavion called them twins. He is bound to have questions."

Mavis nodded again. "He's waking. I'll speak to you again." The device went dead as the magic was disconnected.

The pink haired fire dragon slowly rubbed his hand over his face as he attempted to gain his bearings. He felt like he was waking up after months of sleep. What was he doing outside in the grass? He took a deep breath, but found he didn't recognize the scent of the forest nearby, he did however smell Zeref, Happy, Sting, and … "LUCE!" he cried out as he sat up rather suddenly. His vision tunneled, his head spun. He landed back on the ground with an undignified, "Hmph."

"Uugh, what happened?" Natsu questioned. His thoughts were swimming around sluggishly inside his pounding head. Lucy's bright brown eyes, blonde locks, smiling face seemed to be a fixture behind his eyes everytime they blinked shut. Which was a lot. His eyes felt very sensitive to the light. Meanwhile, Lucy's laugh rang in his ears, as remnants of her magic still caressed against his skin. The feeling made him shiver. It was a feeling he hadn't realized how much he'd missed. Why had it been so long since he'd felt it? He continued to lay there waiting for the vertigo to settle.

"Lucy's magic went crazy, Natsu," Happy spoke as he slid out of Zeref's grasp and toddled unsteadily to his best friend. The fact that Natsu had called for 'Luce' and not 'Lucy' or some variant of 'that girl' had not escaped the Exceed. Hope filled him. Had Natsu finally remembered their partner?

"That doesn't explain why my head feel like Erza hit me with a giant hammer," Natsu whined. With each blink, a different picture of the celestial mage appeared behind his lids. Her determined eyes stared back at him. Now tears ran down her cheeks as she cried sorrowfully. Another blink and her tears were from joy and laughter. Blink. Anger. Blink. Uncertainty. Blink. The irritated look she gave just before a 'Lucy Kick'. Blink. Adoration. Blink. Pain.

He knew each expression by heart. Each blink bringing the memories forward that were linked to each expression. Despair: After he caught her falling out of the tower of Phantom Lord's guild hall. Jovial: When he tried to set Gray's fart on fire in the guild hall. Contentment: When she relaxed with a book on her couch at home. Fear: When Acnologia bore down on Tenrou Island. Faith and Adoration: When she sent him off with at 'I believe in you' before he fought Sting in the Grand Magic Games. So many moments. How had he not remembered?

"You said 'Luce'," Happy said softly after hopping on the dragon slayer's chest so he could look at the man's face to see his reaction.

"Yeah. I guess I did," Natsu replied. His blinking slowed until his eyes finally felt adjusted. His ears stopped ringing with the sounds of her voice. His skin stopped prickling at the feel of her magic. "I remember now, lil' buddy. I'm sorry about before."

Instead of looking happy at his revelation, the blue cat stomped on Natsu's chest angrily, "Why'd you do it! Why'd you hurt Lucy!"

Natsu looked scared for a moment as his eyes widened, "Hurt Luce? When'd I do that?"

"Don't play dumb Natsu, she told me all about it!"

"I'd never hurt her," Natsu said defensively, trying to reassure himself as much as his cat. "You know that Happy."

Happy looked at the fire dragon incredulously. "Let me remind you, then!" the small cat yelled. He changed his voice to mock Natsu's own (poorly) before he started calling out the mean things Lucy claimed Natsu said: "You're a burden, Lucy. You're weak, Lucy. Nobody wants you here, Lucy. Go away, we're not partners anymore, Lucy…" Happy droned on.

"What?! Hey! I never said anything like that!"

"Hmph." Happy crossed his paws over his chest and hopped off the man.

Zeref had listened closely to the exchange. Now that Xavion was involved, it was entirely possible that Natsu hadn't, in fact, had any interactions with the celestial mage for some time. "Natsu," Zeref decided he needed to find out more. "When was the last time you saw Lucy Heartfilia?"

Natsu looked at the man like he was insane and answered slowly like he was speaking to someone who was daft, "Today…. In this clearing…."

Zeref blinked and wanted to smack his younger brother for being a facetious asshole, but realizing the fault was his own for not being specific. "I meant, before the war with myself. When had you seen Lucy last?"

Natsu had to think about it. When had he last seen her before hell broke loose? He had planned to spend time with her that night, but he hadn't. Why hadn't he? He hadn't seen her the day before that either. He had gone fishing at some point to clear his mind, hadn't he? He had spent time with Lisanna talking about random topics like how much Bickslow snored when he had a stuffy nose. Laughing because Luce was the same way. She'd asked him personal questions about his partnership with Luce and got mad at his lack of appropriate responses.

 _"Have you kissed her yet, Natsu?"_

 _"Wow, look at that!" Natsu avoided the question by pointing up to a cloud that looked like a volcano erupting. "It's a volcano!"_

 _"What's holding you back?"_

 _"That one looks like Igneel's tail!"_

 _"Natsu!" Lisanna was annoyed now, "Answer the questions? I thought you liked her?"_

 _"I like all my nakama, Lisanna! This is boring, let's talk about something else!"_

"I'm not sure? I guess it was a few days before the war when I last talked to her," Natsu said slowly, thoughtfully as the memories in his head churned.

"Liar!" Happy accused, his back facing the dragon.

Said dragon slowly rose into a sitting position. "Why would I lie? Happy what's going on with you?"

Happy turned, his eyes filled with tears, "You said awful things to Lucy and it made her so sad that the wrote herself out of your life! It's your fault she left the guild! It's your fault we can't be partners anymore!" The small exceed cried. "Why'd you say those things?"

"I'm tellin' ya the truth, Haps! It wasn't me! She left the guild? Whad'ya mean she wrote herself out of my life? "

"He's probably telling the truth, Happy," Zeref finally spoke up, distracting them both from the last of Natsu's questions. He glanced at Natsu wearily. Why didn't he remember that Lucy had left the guild? Maybe everything was still getting sorted out in his mind? Denial?

"See! Of course I am! Not that I need YOU to side with me!" Natsu crossed his arms over his chest and glared off to the side in a pout.

"Wha-what do you know?" Tears still fell from Happy's eyes as he turned a glare on the dark wizard that was unlike anything the dark wizard had seen before on a small cat. Happy's tone was angry and mistrustful.

"Because Xavion can use the transformation curse."

The other two just stared at Zeref like his point made absolutely no sense. "Who?" Natsu questioned causing Zeref to slap his palm into his forehead, hard.

"What does that guy have to do with Natsu being a jerk!?" Happy questioned, still angry.

"Oi! I am NOT a jerk! And what guy?"

"The weird guy who told us to leave…" Happy was trying to explain to the dense dragon slayer. "Right before Lucy's magic when wild…"

At least the cat's memory was reliable. Had Natsu always been this forgetful, or was it the consequences of getting his memories restored? Looking at Natsu's blank and dazed face he wasn't sure which option was more likely. Zeref shook his head in disbelief. "He is a dangerous man. We can't be certain how involved he is in this situation. Then again… Lucy could have put extra precautions in place in case Natsu started to remember her." He actually wouldn't' be surprised if that was the case. Her magic had lingered behind on Natsu longer than he'd expected. But why only focus on that one memory? No. Something else was going on. He was sure Xavion was involved. Buy how? Why?

Happy settled into deep thought while Natsu still looked puzzled about who Xavion was.

"We'll need to keep a close eye on Lucy for as long as he's in the area."

Happy nodded in agreement, but still glared at the two mages around him. Natsu wasn't going to get off the hook that easy.

* * *

Erza shuddered. Like watching a movie, she had been forced to see a vision of her worst nightmare. For the better part of an hour she hadn't been able to bring herself to do more than nod or shake her head in response to questions posed by the Master and Mavis.

Yes she had seen Lucy. Yes there were chains. No they did not hurt her. Yes she was asked to fix it. No, she didn't understand what she was to fix. Yes she was paralyzed.

She wanted to scream out 'I KILLED HER!' but she couldn't seem to get her vocal cords to corporate. 'IT MADE ME WATCH HER DIE!' Tears fell down her cheeks as Mavis talked to Zeref and then called for Jellal, who lead her back their shared home. Gray stayed behind saying he'd catch up later.

"Erza," Jellal's deep comforting voice wrapped around her like a soft blanket. She whimpered before collapsing into his arms, sobbing. From what Gray had explained to them the previous week, Erza had been expecting to see a show of Lucy's anger. In a way, she had, but it was more than that. She had been shown the inescapable truth of how her unsaid words affected her nakama. The deep hurt that Lucy must have felt, like a sword ripping through her, as her nakama excluded her more and more. As Erza excluded her more and more.

Erza shuddered. A sword ripping through her…. Erza's eyes clenched shut as the image of her armored shadow doppelganger raised a weapon against one of Erza's most precious friends. And ripped through her like it was nothing.

'Now it is done right!'

The words echoed in her mind. The scars that littered the Shadow-Lucy's dark skin. Evenly spaced. Identical in length. Methodical cuts across skin. Were the scars real? Had Lucy been hiding them from her all this time? No. They had bathed together and Lucy's skin was flawless. But still.

'You couldn't even do it right, you're still here.'

'Coward.'

Had Lucy tried to kill herself and failed? Had the celestial mage been hurting so badly she had manifested the emotional pain into physical wounds that now marred her delicate skin? Was what she saw real?

How could it be? Erza hadn't, after all, slain Lucy. Lucy was safe at Sabertooth. Lucy had flawless skin. Lucy… When was the last time Erza saw her smile?

Sob. Her knees buckled. She fell from Jellal's grasp and fell to the floor. It was so like Lucy to know exactly what to show Erza in order to stab the truth deeply into the scarlet haired woman's heart. She would have rathered face Lucy's wrath a thousand times then what she saw.

She opened her eyes only to see a glimpse of the child-like Lucy-Shadow looking up at her, arms held wide. 'Big Sister!'

"Gahh, aahh mmmaaah," Erza gasped, moaning and crying as the image of the child faded from her eyes. Jellal fell to the floor next to her and wrapped himself around her once again.

"Shhh," her lover whispered in her ear. Hot breath making her skin feel sticky and uncomfortable. "I'm here. Shhhhh."

He held her quivering form for hours it seemed. Her sobs eventually turned into hiccuping gasps as her body ran out of tears to shed.

Gray showed up at their place just before dinner time. "How is she?" he asked Jellal as he stepped out of his shoes by the door.

"Not good. She hasn't spoken since we got home."

"That bad, heh," Gray sighed as he stepped past the ex-wizard saint and into the room where Erza sat huddled under a pile of blankets on their couch. He'd never seen the Titania look so lost. She exuded confidence even in the face of death, but in that moment the woman looked as if she had been stripped down to her very soul. No walls. No barriers. No armor. Just naked pain.

"Hey Erza," Gray said quietly as he approached his nakama. "I know it's hard, but can you tell us what you saw?"

Gray watched as Erza's body visibly shuddered, her eyes closed, and a whimper escaped from her lips. The woman's eyes were bloodshot, her face red from where she had relentlessly wiped at tears as they fell. Yet, right before Gray and Jellal, her face morphed from that of a beated stray to a pitiful mask of determination and confidence. She nodded and shakily began her tale.

* * *

Lucy woke in the hotel room feeling like she had recently suffered from a hangover. It was the hangover hangover. The feeling where your head isn't pounding anymore, but the muscle in your neck are still tense for the experience. The feeling you have right after you throw up and you are shaky and sweaty, but feeling relieved. It was that. Lucy huffed. Why was she back in the hotel, anyway?

"Awake?" came Sting's masculine voice. "You're magic did that thing again," He explained, knowing what her question was before she even formed it.

Lucy sat up slowly from the bed and looked to the hotel room's corner where Sting sat reclined in the provided office chair. The look on his face told her he was annoyed and Lucy felt the guilt of her problems weighing on her like a sack of cold ice lay across her shoulders.

"I'm sorry," Lucy muttered. Her head was down, golden locks cascaded over her shoulders, shielding her face from view. God, she was so worthless.

"For what?" Sting pipped in, purposely being loud and boisterous in an effort to break the blonde out of whatever thoughts were plaguing her mind. "Laying waste to the forest, or snuggling with me the whole trip back?"

Lucy looked up at the man in shock, "Th-the whole forest?" she stuttered.

Sting laughed, "Nah, it wasn't that bad. The cuddles were great actually. Lector will be so jealous!"

"WHAT!? YOU PERV!" Lucy hollered. She was gearing up to Lucy Kick him, but stumbled as she dashed out of the bed, her foot caught in the blankets. Her arms waved for a frantic half second before she fell forward. She would have face planted pretty hard on the ottoman if her reflexes had been any slower. Instead, her arms held just above the impact as Sting's laughter bounced around her ears, deafening. She murmured a string of cuss words that made Sting's laughter turn into snorts and choking coughs when he ran out of air.

"Shit, Blondie, you make my day," Sting chuckled as he helped the still tangled Lucy to her feet.

"We did NOT cuddle," Lucy stated sternly.

"It sure felt like cuddles when you wrapped your arms around my neck and started whispering my name as I carried your sore ass back to the hotel," Sting bated her again. Her blushing face and frustrated anger at his teasing was a lot better than the self pitying face she had been displaying earlier.

"I did NOT!" She yelled, smacking Sting on the shoulder as she moved to sit back on the edge of the bed. The man in question just snickered. "You're horrible."

"Yeah, yeah. At least one good thing came out of your magic doing it's berserker thing."

"What?" Lucy pouted slightly when he brought it back up. She was so embarrassed. Not only had she not been able to complete the job in the time frame she wanted to, but she had to be CARRIED back to the hotel by a stupid BEE!

"You knocked Natsu out."

"I … He got knocked out? Did you see?"

"Hah! Totally. Dufface was just laying in the grass groaning when I got you out of there. Dumbass."

Knowing her magic knocked out the man she simultaneously loved gave her mixed feelings. He had hurt her, so there was a sense of sick justice. But, even though his memories were gone and he thought of her as a stranger who had stolen Happy…. He still was following her. There was something about that thought that made her heart soar, but it quickly sank back down to the pits of her stomach. He made it clear that he didn't want anything to do with her. She needed to move on.

"I don't know how to feel about that…" Lucy admitted.

"You should feel awesome. Flame-tard deserved it for stalking you. It's a shame you didn't also knock out Sir Creeps-A-Lot."

"You mean Zeref?"

"Yeah. Dude who wants to use you in an experiment. Who is following you to 'observe'. He wanted me to let him take you back to Fairy Tail."

Lucy shook her head, "I wish he'd stop. He thinks that he means well, but…."

"But he's creepy. Just like Mr. Mayor with shark teeth. He was waiting for us in the lobby when I brought you back like he knew somethin' happened."

Lucy sighed, "I get that some of his features are a little unusual, but he had been nothing but polite to me."

"T'ch," Sting sneered. He mocked her voice as he repeated, "Nothing but polite… My ass! If you saw the state his butler was in when we walked through the door, you'd be singin' a different tune."

"What'd you mean?"

"Dude looked like he had been worked over with a club. Dark bruising all over his face."

Lucy pondered this. "The butler was acting strange when we met him at the Manor and also when I saw them at breakfast. He kept looking at me funny."

"I think that Mayor guy beat the shit out of him for looking at you, honestly."

"HAH!" Lucy laughed out. "That is ridiculous, Bee."

Sting shrugged. He wasn't going to back down on his stance on the Mayor. They guy had creepy vibes.

"You ready to eat? How's your magic feel?"

Lucy's stomach growled and she absently rubbed it. "Yeah I could eat. I think I'll need a good sleep before my magic is all restored, though. I guess I'll have to finish tracking whatever that monster is tomorrow."

Sting nodded. "Alright, let's go."


	41. Chapter 41

Xavion felt rather grumpy. He had hoped to keep his involvement secret a little longer, but he was irritated with END's presence. Not to mention the old-fart who was traveling with him. Lucy needed to be kept away from those bastards, least it ruin everything he had been working on.

The demon slouched in his desk chair that was so kindly provided in the hotel room he had been forced into after the fire-bastard _burned down his house_. Mayhew was lying limp on the floor. Stupid, worthless scum had tried to sneak a note into the girl's room to warn her off. X was hoping the poor bastard would just die already. If the shallow yet sharp intakes of breath were anything to go by, the man would be gone by morning.

It annoyed him even more when he realized that, instead of camping out like they had the previous night, Zeref and his gang had gotten themselves a room in the same hotel. The only satisfying part was the fact that Zeref had failed in acquiring the empty room next door to Lucy and her companion. Instead the two were shoved into a room three floors up and at the far end of the hotel, meaning they were less likely to intervene with his plans tonight.

As the stars peeked out of the navy blue sea in the sky, X spun his chair around to face his window. He had been staying in a room on the first floor, which was convenient to him as it reduced the chance of him being spotted as he left to hotel. The first floor was also the only floor with windows that functioned, all other floors had windows with no ability to open them, which meant that he did not need to break the glass and alert housekeeping or the hotel staff of his possible comings and goings.

X wondered if his plans would be too much on the girl. If he drained too much of her magic with what he had planned, perhaps she wouldn't be able to perform the needed tasks. He scoffed. She had done it before with less magic than a newborn, so he pushed the anxiety to the back of his mind. She would do this for him, fix him, just like she fixed that bastard END. He'd worked too damn hard for her NOT to comply.

X glanced at the clock on the wall. It was time for his nightly romp through the woods. The man stood and stretched before he opened the window. As he pushed himself over the sill and activated his transformation curse. Now he was flying, an insignificant sparrow soaring off into the night to roost in the woods.

* * *

"I want to go see Luce," Natsu whined again. He was currently tied up. Zeref's doing. The ropes were magic cancelling, something the dark mage had learned to always have on hand. The fire mage had struggled himself into exhaustion as he attempted to get loose from Zeref's grasp. It hadn't been fair that the vertigo he was suffering from after regaining his memories had made his first attempts to run and see his partner look like he had 10 too many shots of fire whiskey. It had made it painfully easy for Zeref to catch him, restrain him, and then drag him back to the hotel. Happy had snickered at him the entire time.

Natsu's felt a little like a mummy. One of the ropes Zeref used was wrapped around his torso in a half a dozen loops, tightly securing his arms to his sides, and tied off over his hip. Another length of rope of was looped around his legs all the way to his ankles. He had tried to worm his way free, but to no avail. Now he was on his back, on the floor staring up at the ceiling wondering how it all came to this.

Natsu couldn't help but be angry at himself. How could he have forgotten Luce? Now that he really looked back at the last few months he could recall the few times Happy had brought up inviting the team with them on a job. Natsu wanted to kick himself because he'd answered like an idiot, _"Whadda ya mean, Lil' Buddy, you and me is all the team I need!"_ And then how stupid he'd sounded when Happy asked about Luce not being there. "Why would we need some girl?" He'd discarded those moments and had forgotten about it completely until the blue cat had pressed him about it just the other week.

Natsu remembered the first moment he had smelled her scent again and how it had confused him on how much it felt like home. Laying in her apartment like a total creep. Not remembering the lacrima he had installed secretly into her window frame so that she could never truly lock him out. Natsu wondered vaguely where Lucy had moved to. If someone new were to take residence in that apartment, he should probably remove the device.

Happy said that Lucy had left the guild, but that couldn't be right, could it? He wasn't quite sure what all happened to her when he'd seen her last at Fairy Tail. Or any of the months previous. When she was last at the guild, Happy had been arguing with him, Laxus had been yelling at Luce, and then she'd just disappeared in a flash of gold like one of her spirits. He knew she wasn't a spirit herself, but she had definitely called up some sort of spirit gate to disappear into. He wondered when she'd learned that handy trick.

Natsu shuddered as the memory of the weird shadow crept into his mind. He had tried to let the whole thing just roll off him, but now the situation meant something completely different. The shadow had looked like Scary Lucy, but worse, decayed. The fire that had surrounded her had felt so similar to his own, but so much hotter. Flames of emotion, he remembered learning about that with Igneel and again with Macao. It was a testament to whatever rage Luce had been feeling that the flames had burned him.

Luce had said she loved him. Well, the shadow version of her had, at least. Was that true? He needed to know. Needed to tell her that he would always be with her. It was more fun when they were together. The fire mage squirmed again and the rope rubbed roughly against the exposed skin on his arms, chest, and back. Dammit.

"Why the hell won't you let me go!" Natsu called out. He tried to look behind him where Zeref and Happy were sitting quietly, ignoring him. He strained his neck and arched his back to get an upside down view, only to huff and fall back to being flat on the ground.

Speaking of the blue cat, Natsu couldn't help but attempt a glare at his best furball friend, who was in no rush to help release the restraints that held him.

"Haps, come on! I swear that I just want to make sure she's alright!" Happy just stared at him, though he looked contemplative. Natsu was hoping that he was slowing winning back his dearest friend from whatever wrong that he'd committed.

Natsu wanted to snarl. He wiggled and squirmed again causing his body to lift off the floor awkwardly before falling again. Zeref was ignoring his brother to the best of his abilities. He wanted to let Natsu go, but at the same time he was nervous about the reunion. What would Lucy do when she found out the dragon had regained his memories of her? Would it be simple for the two to come back together? Would it be enough to bring her back to Fairy Tail? If the shadows really were some sort of manifestation of Lucy's negative energy, then she most definitely would be the key to getting rid of said shadows. Getting rid of the shadows would mean helping heal the celestial mage's emotional wounds. Healing her emotional wounds would mean that she would be receptive to the ultimate goal of making a family. His family… Well, Natsu's children, but still an extended part of his own family.

Zeref had come to the conclusion that when things were finished up here for whatever job the girl had taken, she WOULD be leaving with him and his brother to go back to Fairy Tail. Operation Kidnap Lucy was back on. Not only would this protect the girl from whatever Xavion had going on, but would instigate the rebuilding of Fairy Tail. Zeref was pleased with his own thoughts enough to miss the conversation that lead to his brother running out the door...

Happy was staring hard into his best friends hazel-green eyes, attempting to search out the truth. It was becoming obvious to the cat that either Natsu did not remember everything or he really hadn't been there with Lucy when she said he had. He was confused. Had Lucy lied? Had Natsu lied? As the exceed looked over the form of his exhausted friend, whose eyes were now shut, the cat found himself unable to stay aloof. Natsu was obviously miserable at being held back from seeing Lucy. The blue furred feline jumped down from the bed he had been perched on and approached Natsu.

"You really didn't say those things to Lucy, did you?" Happy whispered.

Natsu opened his eyes to stare intently back at Happy, "No Happy, I would never say something like that to her." The dragon slayer spoke softly, but his voice was hard with honesty.

Their eye contact remained, then finally Happy relented. A smile burst through the sadness he had been feeling since discovering this whole ordeal. "I knew it!" the small cat yelled, happy tears welling in his eyes as he threw himself at Natsu's face and hugged him tightly.

"Feye thant freaf," Natsu murmured from under the cat as a grin stretched across his face. Happy moved from suffocating his friend and instead sat on the man's chest. "I missed you Happy," Natsu smiled. "It's no fun when you're mad at me buddy."

Natsu's cheeky grin grew as his friend replied, "AYE!"

They laughed together and Happy quickly began to untie his friend's ropes, throwing them up into the air. Natsu was up and dashing out of the room before the ropes hit the ground.

Zeref considered stopping his brother. But he really wanted to believe that it would be easy once the two were confronted with each other.

Happy cheered his friend on, "Bring Lucy back, alright!"

"Aye, Happy!" Natsu called back from down the hall.

* * *

Lucy and Sting sat in the hotel restaurant waiting for the waiter to bring their ticket so they could pay for their meals. The hotel restaurant, while not a dive, was casual. The menu was more like that of a simple diner offering simple finger foods as appetizers; soup, salad, and sandwiches for entrees; and a choice between pie or cake for dessert. Lucy had ordered the club sandwich with a side of chips, and Sting had ordered one of each sandwich on the menu along with the soup of the day. Lucy was at least relieved to find that Sting's eating habits were slightly less embarrassing to be around than Natsu's.

Dinner had been quiet between them. Lucy was tired from the expulsion of so much magic, while Sting was contemplating how mad she would get if he asked her to stay behind while he finished the job for her. He didn't like the Mayor, he didn't like that they were being tailed by Zeref who wanted to whisk her away to another guild, he didn't like that at any odd moment Lucy's magic could explode. It seemed dangerous for her to even just stay at the hotel. He wanted to send her back to Sabertooth, but he also wanted to live. Lucy's wrath was scary.

His quiet musings and Lucy's exhaustion were rudely interrupted by two things happening simultaneously. One was the shout of "LUCE" that came from just outside the hotel restaurant's glass doors, and the other was the screams of several civilians as they called out "MONSTER!" and started running past the many windows that made up the outer wall of the building, which faced the main street.

Both of these things caused a large amount of adrenaline to slam through Lucy's body, causing her to stand abruptly (her chair falling backwards in her haste) before she sprinted to the windows, ignoring the voice of the fire dragon. Ignoring the fact that he had shouted her name happily, like he was excited to see her. Ignored that the sound of his enthusiasm made her stomach flutter and her knees weak with anticipation for an adventure.

Instead, she pushed her face against the glass and craned her neck to look in the direction everyone was running from. The buildings that lined the street blocked her view of seeing anything but a wicked claw plowing through the roof of a Bosconian goods store a few blocks down. The claw was hard to see through the night time glare on the glass. Lucy was seeing more of her own reflection than the shape of the monster everyone was screaming about. It didn't matter, though, because the stupid thing was IN TOWN!

"Shit! I thought that Xavion said it stayed in the forest!" Lucy cried dismayed. Why would it change where it was attacking now? Had the thing trailed her scent back to town just like she had been tracking it's prints into the forest earlier? God, what this her fault?

"Luce!" Natsu stopped next her looking to see what had the celestial mage's attention. "Is that the monster we're fighting?" the fire mage said with more excitement than was truly called for in the situation. "All right! I'm all fired up now! Let's go!"

Lucy did her best to ignore the overwhelming need to flip-shit on the fire mage. How dare he. After everything he'd said to her. Now wasn't the time. Lucy had grown that much, at least. Now she needed to focus on her job. Lucy turned to run out the door, Natsu was running at her side. For the first time on this job, Lucy was glad Sting had come with her.

"You ain't goin' anywhere fire-breath! This is Lucy's job, let her handle it," Sting called while stepping into the fire dragon's way.

"Get outta the way! Who cares whose job it is, I wanna fight it!"

Lucy pretended to ignore both of them as she sprinted out the door that lead to the street outside. Her nerves were twisted and rattled at Natsu's sudden appearance at her side. It felt like tiny sparks were rushing up her arms, starting at her fingertips and zipping up to her shoulders and then across her back. It made her feel shaky. Fears of her incompetence swam up to the surface of her mind. What if she couldn't beat the monster? What if she wasn't enough? What if Natsu had to save her and called her a burden again? Was he here out of obligation, again? She was weak. Her magic spent from whatever had set it off earlier in that afternoon. What if all she did was prove everything he'd said about her right once again? What if Sting realized she wasn't good enough to be in Sabertooth when she failed? Where would she go next? What would she do?

"Not now, Lucy," she spoke softly to herself as she ran in the opposite direction as the terrified civilians. Her keys vibrated at her side, and she knew they were on her side, ready to help. She pushed everything in her head that was distracting her from the mission to the back recesses of her mind and locked them in a box. She had to focus. People's lives were in danger. Focus. Focus, Lucy. Focus.

The monster came into view and Lucy skidded to a halt. No wonder everyone had a slightly different description of what had attacked them in the woods. The best was a kind of chimera, if Lucy were to guess. A chimera put together by an evil scientist with too much time on his hands and a taste for the grotesque. If the overall look of the beast wasn't enough to make you shit your pants, the fact that you could see ropes used as stitches to hold the thing together would. The smell that accompanied the beast was enough to make Lucy gag. The smell of rotten, dead flesh permeated the air so strongly that she could taste it. As she breathed in, it felt like a film of rotten meat had coated her tongue. The smell and taste impossible to just spit out. She gagged again and this time her retching forced her to the ground as she lost the contents of her stomach.

"Oh god," Lucy moaned as she wiped her mouth off on her hand. "Why, just… ugh." She coughed again, and lost another load of stomach contents.

Lucy reviewed what she knew about Chimera. Generally, they were legends. They were created by wizards who studied lost, dark magic not unlike the Living Magic Zeref practiced to make the Etherion Demons. That meant that there was probably a dark guild or a powerful mage behind the monster attacks. Buy why? Besides the logging industry that made up the base of the small town's economy, there really wasn't anything else here.

Lucy stood again as the beast roared from multiple heads. There were three that she could see, one was that of a lion, which was spouting fire from between gigantic fangs nestled between frothing lips. The lion's mane was knotted and caked in something dark. Lucy couldn't tell if it was mud or blood or both. The ears that would have usually stuck out cutely were mangled stubs. The muzzle was mostly intact. Lucy was no longer sure if the lion's mouth was open because it meant for it to be so, or if it was due to the damage in the visible ligaments normally attached to the jaw bones. The neck of the lion was held to the body using thick roped that had been stitched with a surgical suture. All of the heads were like that. Stitched onto the front end of the beast with thick rope-like material in criss-crossing sutures.

The second head was that of snake. The flared hood of the viper was attached to a long neck that sprouted out of the beast's back and wrapped itself around the third head, which was that of a … man? Maybe? Lucy wasn't sure, it was hard to see through the coils of the snake's rotting body.

The third head rested awkwardly on the beast's shoulder, straight out and looking down at the ground. It's mouth was open, sharp teeth were on display as thin lips were drawn back and the jaw stretched wide. It was screaming with the voice of a terrorized and tortured soul. As the third head screamed, the viper wrapped around it grew agitated, and with lightning speed, it maneuvered to strike at the third head, a loud hiss echoing in the aftermath of the lion's display.

Lucy couldn't help the shudder that ran through her body. The beast was huge. It's front half was scaled and bore legs that ended in webbed toes with sharp talons. The back half was covered in fur and had the powerful hunches of the feline head of the the monster. A tail that was spiked and whipped two and fro reminded the celestial mage of the snake whose fangs were still embedded into the cheek of the third head.

Lucy attempted to analyse the situation as quickly as she could as the creature stormed up the street, charging at buildings and swatting at people. Right, the people! She needed to get them to safety as fast as she could.

"Open, Gate of the Maiden, Virgo!" Lucy called. The pink haired, blue eyed maid spirit appeared instantly at Lucy's side.

"Punishment, Hime-sama?"

Lucy skipped over her spirit's question, not having time to deny the spirit her wishes. "You take the left and I'll take the right. Tunnel a safe path for the civilians to the merchant's road."

Virgo nodded disappeared under the earth to do as she was asked. Lucy held Virgo's key to her chest and called for the maiden's Star Dress to take form. Lucy could feel her magic drop dangerously low. She panted heavily with the effort to connect her magic to that of her spirit's. As a pathway between herself and the vast magic of the celestial world connected, Lucy was filled with the magic of Virgo's constellation. In an instant, Lucy was following after her spirit's example, but in the opposite direction. As she traveled through the dirt Lucy berated herself to come up with a plan. She needed to isolate the beast and minimized she lead it away from town and back into the forest? Taurus would be a good distraction. He was loud and obnoxious, surely the chimera would follow the bull spirit. She believed in her spirits, he could do this. She popped out of the ground near the back feet of the beast.

"EVERYONE THROUGH HERE!" Lucy called out to the crowded street of people as they ran underfoot of the monster. Lucy could hear Virgo's voice shout over the panic that there was an escape that way too. The crowd split, arms flailing, people screaming, children crying. Lucy stood directing people as she watched the chimera. It didn't take long for the beast to notice the commotion, so Lucy took her second key off her belt and summoned the bull spirit.

"MooOoooo! Lu-oooocy, your body is mootiful today!"

"Taurus, I need you to gain the chimera's attention, try to lead it away from town to the forest," Lucy ordered.

"Anything for Moooo-youuuu!" and the larger than life man-bull was off, shouting obscenities up to the three headed beast, pulling its attention away from the evacuating citizens.

"Follow the tunnel, it leads to the edge of town, you can follow the main road on foot from there," Lucy spoke to the people she helped slide down into the tunnels she had dug. They went in the opposite direction from the forest, towards the traders' route merchants used.

"Thank you miss!" was the chorus that met Lucy's ears as she watched Taurus's progress in leading the chimera back away from the town. Her spirit was doing well, avoiding the flame attacks from the lion's mouth, but she was worried for him nonetheless. The snake head was uncoiling, and with the speed it had latched onto the third head… She hoped Taurus could avoid it long enough for her to reach him with back up.

"Hime-sama," Virgo announced her presence, "Do you wish for me to search for injured people in the rubble and transport them to the tunnel's end?"

Lucy blinked at Virgo for a moment, afraid to think of how many people might have been trapped under the buildings the beast had knocked over, "Yes, please Virgo."

The spirit nodded and was gone in a flash.

Lucy stayed a few more moments watching over the evacuation. It was almost a blessing that the town was so small. Taurus's key vibrated at her side, and she knew it meant that he had succeeded in her request. Now she just needed to figure out a way to bring the beast down.


	42. Chapter 42

Zeref had felt the magic of whatever monster was out there slightly before he heard the reaction of the people screaming outside of the hotel. He hadn't followed Natsu down to the hotel's attached restaurant, and now he was glad he hadn't. There was one person he knew to be behind the monstrosity terrorizing those below on the street, and Zeref was determined that he would put a swift stop to it.

Gathering his own magic to shatter the glass of his upper story hotel window, Zeref jumped out of the square hole in the wall, landing softly on the ground below, and then bolted for the source of magic being used to give the creature life. It was was a path easily followed, and he snaked through alleyways in the shadows before coming across the edge of the forest. He met the tree line at the same time as the beast, who was swiping it's clawed forelimbs at a obnoxiously loud half man half bull hybrid who was waving around a larger than life axe. Lucy was smart to distract and lead the creature away from the general populous of the small foresting village. Zeref paused long enough to watch for a blonde head of hair, wondering idly what kept her from joining in with her spirit. Then he spotted her up in the limbs of a tree, arrow notched and ready to be released. She had taken on the Sagittarius Star Dress. Zeref relaxed knowing the girl had things under control.

The dark wizard did not worry about grace as he quickly smashed his way through the rough under growth of the forest when he entered. It was easy to feel out the magic he was looking for, considering he'd created it. Now he just needed to find Xavion's hidey hole and take care of the abomination once and for all. In his haste, the living magic mage found himself stumbling and falling to the forests floor only to roll back onto his feet more than once as he covered a mile of ground in search of his prey.

The forest was dark, the light of the moon and stars sprinkled in the sky above barely giving any light to the thick roots, stumps of fallen trees, branches, bushes, and stones that littered the pathway Zeref took. His clothes had been quickly torn, his sash of white that normally cross his body from shoulder to hip had been discarded a half-mile back. The black of the forest was eerily highlighted by the the glow of the magic being used in the distance as Zeref slowed his pace.

Zeref came to the edge of a small clearing where voices could be heard jeering and cheering each other on. The black haired man peeked out behind a bush he was using for cover and saw four mages, unknown and inconsequential, and one demon, Xavion. The four mages were all male, young, and probably stupid, if Zeref assumptions were to be taken as fact. They were currently getting drunk and play fighting each other, loudly as they jeered about how powerful they all were. Soon, due to their gracious leader, the village would be their home, the men and children dead, and the women their whores. Zeref felt disgusted. He knew he didn't really have the right to feel disgusted after everything he had done in his life, but bile was raising up his throat as he considered the reality of their dreams. The contradiction curse that had affected his love for life was no longer there to corrupt his sense of empathy and he felt like weeping for the supposed victims these monsters were targeting. His mind flashed back to the room he and Natsu had stumbled on when entering Xavion's home. How had it gotten to this point?

Xavion wasn't smiling or joining in the celebration the other mages were clearing partaking in, instead the demon was holding a sheet of parchment, eyes roving over the text over and over again. Even though Zeref was too far away to see even a hint of what the old parchment said, he knew every word on it. It was, after all, his. There had been a few possibilities of where the creature attacking the village had come from, but now there wasn't any doubt that it was one of his own experiments brought back to life. But how had Xavion gotten his hands on it?

No longer having the patience to just wait for answers to come to him, Zeref stepped out from his hiding spot and into the clearing. Xavion grinned, but didn't bother looking up from the parchment he held. The other four mages fell silent, freezing in place as eyes fell on his form. The four mages started whispering as the shock wore off.

"Isn't that him?" one with messy brown hair that had grass and twigs stuck in knots spoke quietly to the group. The man failed to whisper, but at least he wasn't yelling. Probably an effect of the beer in his system.

"I thought he died? Isn't that what X said?" the smaller blond said. He was the shortest of the four. Shirtless. Skinny. Hardly muscled. Low magic levels. Zeref wondered what possible use the man had in the group.

"Council did a cover up...," that is what the taller blonde started to say before he hiccuped and fell to the ground, obviously too wasted to stand any longer. After landed rather ungracefully on his rump, he rocked and then fell to his side completely out. The fourth member of the ragtag group stayed silent. He had a darker shade of brown hair than the first speaker-almost black, and his skin was darkly tanned. The wild tilt of his eyes and half hidden tattoos, barely visible under his tight fitted shirt, covering the left side of his neck marked him as Boscan.

"Xavion," Zeref muttered in greeting to the demon.

"Ah, big brother, I thought you might drop by," the white haired man chuckled as he finally allowed his gaze to lift from the parchment in front of him.

Zeref gritted his teeth. This whole big brother thing reminded him of Larcade calling him father. That had grated on his nerves. Larcade was a creation, nothing more. Just like Xavion. "We are not related, Xavion. Refrain from calling me brother in the future. If you have a future after tonight, that is." Zeref had no intention of allowing Xavion to have such a future.

"Genetically," Xavion grinned widely, showing off his sharp, shark-like teeth, "we are. I am, after all, _his_ clone."

"Where did you find the chimera's sheet?" Zeref changed topics. He did not want to be reminded of his experimentations. There had been a lot of failures before he had been comfortable bringing Natsu's body back to life.

"Oh, this old thing?" the demon waved the sheet around casually. "I've stumbled across quite of few of these, actually. You were never good at destroying your old notes, brother." Xavion leaned back and picked up a brown and grey satchel. He flipped the top back, buckles clinking quietly, and reached in to pull out a loosely bound notebook. "You could say I've made my own book," he chuckled.

Zeref's eyes widened. His notes. His early creations while experimenting with bringing life back into carcasses of dead animals. When he was first figuring out how to create a tether (or soul) that could tie consciousness to a body, he had tried many objects as tethers, but had found written words to be the most effective. There had been so many. Creations that lived within a single page. Creations like the chimera Lucy was battling. And now they were bound together in a notebook in the hands of Xavion.

Three of the four mages started to gather around their leader, the tall blonde was still passed out on the clearing floor. The others had continued their not so quite whispering while Zeref addressed Xavion, but it appeared they were now comfortable enough to approach. Zeref had almost forgotten they were there.

"Yeah, his own book," the short blonde one shouted drunkenly as he came to stand to the side and slightly behind Xavion. "His creation curse can bring it all to life." The blonde spat at Zeref's feet.

Zeref never regretted anything so much in his life as he did now. Xavion. The test dummy. The one who had partial curses implanted into his system so that Zeref could gauge their effectiveness, strength and possible compatibility with Natsu when and if he was revived. He'd forgotten about his attempt at turning Living Magic into a curse. The Creation Curse was flawed, it could only reanimate something for as long as the user had magic to feed to it. Living magic was able to allow a creation to live entirely separately form the caster. Was that what he was using to bring life to the chimera? Xavion's wells of power were practically unlimited. Zeref felt a chill creep up on him as he wondered if Lucy were in more danger than he originally suspected.

"Pfft! Who are you anyway buddy?" the brunette asked, voice bitter with anger since their party had been so rudely interrupted.

"You can't be Zeref, that weakling was killed by a bunch of legal guild wizard pansies. So who are you?" the Boscan asked, speaking for the first time since Zeref entered the clearing. His voice carried a slight accent that was hardly distinguishable. The man had probably never stepped foot in his home country, was Zeref's guess.

"Yeah, brother, tell my men who you are," Xavion spoke softly, still grinning madly.

The short blonde spoke up again before Zeref had a chance to say anything, "Dude's so weak he can't even speak!" The skinny man laughed like he was in on some huge joke. Probably had humored himself with the rhyme of his words.

"Doesn't matter, X has more power in his pinky than any of those guild wizards," the non-Boscan brunette jeered.

"The company you keep is rather annoying," Zeref commented as he silently cast his immobilization magic over the bothersome three, freezing them in time. "Call back the chimera."

"No."

Zeref's eyes narrowed at the man's defiance. For a solid, silent minute the two glared at each other. Zeref trying to assert his dominance, Xavion defiantly ignoring his creator.

Xavion's grin fell from his face and he took on a more serious expression. "I'd appreciate it if you just left well enough alone, Zeref."

Zeref shook his head, "I won't turn my back this time. What are you planning here, Xavion? What does conquering this village give you?"

Xavion didn't answer for a moment. Instead the demon enjoyed how the pause in his answer caused the other man to bristle angrily. "Obviously this isn't about the village. It's about _her_. The girl. _Lucy Heartfilia_."

"Why?" was Zeref's simple response. He held back his surprise. In all his years of living he could not recall knowing a single other human who attracted so much BAD. Did she have some weird compulsion charm running in her veins that just called out to sinister mages to come and get her? It was downright bizarre.

Xavion sighed, his face morphing one of reminiscence. He hazel eyes glazed over and he turned slightly to look off into the blackness of the forest.

"You remember when you captured that seith mage? …. How you forced him to rip out my soul to see if it could be attached to your dead brother's body?" Xavion's voice grew louder with anger as he continued the story, "When it didn't work you brought be back by creating a new tether binding to a half sheet of fucking paper."

In the building rage, different, unstable curses activated. Thorns pushed up from the ground, their vines were coated with electricity that arched between thorns. A rose appeared but then exploded as yet another curse was activated. Black water bubbled up from under Xavion's feet and puddled. The electric pulses that covered the vines of his thorns were soon conducted through the black water and appeared to be licking at X's boots.

"You were so mad you killed me and then re-summoned me over and over again because my soul hadn't been good enough." There was a long pause as Xavion turned to glare at Zeref. His transformation curse activating, turning the demon into a replica of Natsu. "A fucking HALF sheet of paper! That's all you gave me. ME! The living flesh of your flesh!"

Zeref shuddered. Yes. He remembered. He hadn't wanted his little brother to be one of his living-dead creations, so he had researched Seith magic, became obsessed with it, and then searched endlessly to find someone who had mastered it. The mage he'd found had been named Bathlezar. At first he'd approached Bathlezar as a man hoping for an exchange of services. When Bathlezar refused his offers and rejected Zeref's ideas, the dark mage had simply kidnapped the seith and forced his will upon him. Zeref had been convinced that the magically created, genetic replica of his brother would have produced a similar soul, one that could be easily transferred into Natsu's body. It had failed epically. In his rage and sorrow, Zeref had not only pulled Bathlezar apart piece by piece, but had also done the same to Xavion. He had hastily created an working life bond, or soul, for Xavion, just scribbled notes on a torn piece of parchment, so that he could continue his experiments without having to start from scratch.

Zeref had realized his error with Xavion. His haste had been what turned Xavion's hair white and made his teeth so sharp. It is what turned the sweat loving nature that was built into Natsu's genetics into one of loathing, defiance, and apathy. He had made the page too vague, which is why he later turned to writing whole books for his creations. Natsu's being the most detailed. Having an entire book to craft the life of a creation had given Zeref so much more freedom and had ensured his creations were bounded to specifically worded laws. Xavion was soon rejected as an experiment due to his ability to defy Zeref's wishes. At the time, Zeref had no idea that a page, book, or soul for that matter could be overwritten. Lucy had been the first to do that.

Zeref's thoughts were shoved to the back of his mind as he found that dodging the electric vines crashing around him to be more important. Xavion's curses were out of control and Zeref had to search through his memories from over 400 years ago to try and remember what else the demon held up his sleeve. The black water, at least, was kept to the puddle at Xavion's feet, but the vines were manifesting wildly, tearing up the ground under Zeref's feet, giving him less than a second to react as either the earth under him crumbled or another thorned whip lashed out in his direction. Each time a rose formed, it exploded and the blasts knocked Zeref off kilter enough to put him in danger from wooden projectiles that were forming as yet another curse was activated.

Zeref was out of breath and bleeding after only a few minutes of this treatment. Xavion hadn't moved, he just stood and raged, still in the form of Natsu. It was in a brief moment of rest that Zeref realized the other mages in the clearing were in danger of being ripped to shreds, his immobilization spell did nothing to protect them. They were evil, had teamed with the madman that was Xavion. A part of him wanted to let them die as the demon's tirade continued, but he couldn't. He could not allow more death to happened because of him or his creations. Not only was he free of the curse that caused him to hate and devour life, but he had promised Mavis that those days were gone. So he released them from the spell, used his own magic to boost his speed, and dragged them each out of the clearing, dodging vines, wooden stakes, and explosions along the way. Not about to let them go, however, Zeref knocked them all out in a relatively safe area.

In the clearing, Xavion was breathing hard as he attempted to regain control. Seeing Zeref again had been jarring. Finding that Zeref seemed to be hot on the trail of the girl had been infuriating. END being present as if he had a right, had been the "final straw" so to say. His unstable center had been careening to an explosive output for hours, he had only been able to keep it under wraps because he was so close to achieving his goal.

He took deep breaths in through his nose and out through his mouth, trying to slow his thoughts as they raced, trying to get his heart to slow, trying to focus on the goal. She was close to the clearing, close to finding him. He needed to calm down. He didn't want to engage the girl. He could tell the chimera was weakening. Soon she would be here. Soon he would be fixed. Soon he would be the only thing she ever needed in life. Focus. Breath.


	43. Chapter 43

Natsu couldn't contain the irritated growl rumbled in the back of his throat as Sting remained stubbornly in his path. Natsu couldn't understand what the white dragon's deal was. He needed to get to Luce! She couldn't handle that… well, whatever that was… by herself! Besides, Luce was his teammate, it was his job to kick monster ass when she was involved. It only vaguely registered in his thoughts that perhaps those things weren't necessarily true anymore, that he'd missed too much to really understand what was happening in his dear friend's life.

"Calm down Dragneel," Sting pushed back on Natsu's chest as he spoke. "Lucy is more than capable of handling this job herself."

"If she is so capable, then why are you here following her around?" Natsu glowered. He didn't wait for Sting to come up with an answer before he pushed again against the restraining hands of the Sabertooth guild master. "Yeah, that's what I thought. She ain't ready for something like this on her own. Let me help!"

"Natsu!" Sting pushed back harder, forcing Natsu to step backwards, a disgruntled huff of air escaping from between the fire dragon's lips. "She has been trained and evaluated at Sabertooth and she is approved to take this level of job solo."

"Luce ain't a Sabertooth mage!" Natsu growled out. "She's nakama, she's Fairy Tail, she's my partner!"

Sting paused at this, realizing what it meant. "You have your memories back, don't you?"

Natsu sniffed dismissively and made another attempt to get past Sting. Sting's eyes widened in shock. "For how long?"

"Just a few hours. I don't have time for this, I need to help Lucy!" Natsu was yelling now as his eyes darted around evaluating the space around him for an escape route. The fire dragon's body temperature was rising dangerously as his annoyance with Sting grew. He wanted to punch his way out, Sting could tell, but he was holding back - a trait that was very un-Natsu like.

"Lucy is fine! She will be pissed at me if I let you out there!"

Natsu seemed startled for a moment, his eyes coming back around to focus on Sting, "Nah, Luce isn't like that. We're partners!" Natsu reiterated.

Sting rolled his eyes as he grabbed onto Natsu's scarf, preventing the fire mage from dodging out of the hotel. "You've missed a lot," Sting sighed. The white dragon couldn't help but feel bad for Natsu. Whatever had happened between Lucy and the fire dragon should have never lead to Lucy doing what she did. Stealing someone's memory just wasn't right, and now that Natsu had them back, he was still missing everything Lucy had gone through and done to herself since his book had been re-written. Natsu had always been someone Sting had looked up to. Hell, he had rebuilt Sabertooth from the ground up just to emulate his idol's moral ferocity. But, when Lucy had arrived and he'd seen how utterly lost she was, and once he finally learned why, he knew it wasn't going to be helpful to remind her how wrong she'd been in her actions. She already knew what she did was wrong. Yelling at her about how much she ruined Natsu, or how much she negated the ideals of her guild wasn't going to help anyone.

As Natsu struggled to be released, Sting leveled the man with his serious I'm-a-guild-master look. "I mean it Natsu. She really will NOT want your help."

"What do you mean?" Natsu said cautiously, his shoulders sagged slightly, some of his earlier fight leaving him as he absorbed the serious tone Sting's voice had taken.

Sting scoffed, "I thought you said you got your memories back. The fight you two had…"

"Not you too! I already went through this with Happy and Zeref. There was no fight!"

Sting blinked dumbly for a moment. He took a moment to look into Natsu's eyes waiting to see if they dilated and observed his face for any weird ticks. He took a deep breath and took in the fire dragon's scent. There was no hint that the man was lying. Sting glared into Natsu's face, not sure if he should be angry or not. He knew Lucy hadn't lied when she told the story to himself and Happy. "Then what the hell happened?"

"Nothing! I don't know," Natsu was exasperated. "You know how the war was, almost everyone died. Me, Erza, Juvia, Ice-Princess, Gramps, Laxus… everyone. Anything could have happened. I couldn't always be there with her!" At this, Natsu's gaze dropped, his eyes shadowed by his pink bangs. Sting couldn't be sure what emotion his fellow dragon was feeling.

Natsu was lost in remembering the moment he'd attacked Dimaria and held a limp Lucy in his arms. The moment he woke to being trapped within the blackness of his own soul when END, the etherious demon his brother had created within his body, took over in a rage impossible to recount in words, and a single minded determination to destroy Zeref. He'd left her lying there, then. Possibly dead. He'd just left.

Lucy, of course, had been fine, and had been there for him as he struggled between life and death, demon and human.

Natsu flexed the fingers of his right hand, bringing it up to his face. He observed how there was the barest tint of black along the cuticle of his nails. His nails were no longer blunt and broken, but sharp and pointed slightly like talons. If he got angry the black stain by his nails would spread up his arm like a tangled web and suddenly he had access to a firestorm curse that fed into the fires of his dragon in an uncontrollable swirl of power. If his rage was bad enough, he would begin to take on draconic features like horns and sometimes wings or a tail. He had been hiding this from the guild, not sure how they would react to him still having access to the demon within him in addition to the partial transformation into a dragon. He didn't want to battle Gray again, not like before. What Natsu did know was that something serious had changed in him after the war. A marriage of the demon seed and his human/dragon souls. He couldn't figure out how or why it'd happened, especially after he had chose to ignore both and just be human. With the return of his memory he was starting to assume that Lucy had something to do with it. Though he could fathom why.

"...been through a lot. Just don't expect things to go back…" Sting had been talking for a few minutes and only realized now as Natsu's eyes met his own that the fire dragon had heard none of it. "You didn't hear a word I just said, did you," the white dragon murmured. His shoulders slumping at the realization. Natsu was Natsu. Action first, listen later.

"Can we go now?" Natsu said instead. "I want to catch up to Luce and make sure she's okay."

Sting gritted his teeth. "For the last time NO! She doesn't want nor does she need your help." Then the guild master muttered, "No wonder Lucy was so insecure."

"What's that supposed to mean Sunshine?!" Natsu snarled after hearing Sting's comment. "Luce ain't insecure. All she ever does is flaunt her body around."

"Not what I meant, Flame-brain!" Sting eyed the fire dragon wearily. Suddenly Natsu's forehead was bashed into his own and the pink haired man leveled him with a glare usually reserved for his arguments with Gray.

"Then what did'ya mean? Huh!?"

"I meant that you coddled her into believing she had no strength!" Sting yelled back, glaring fearlessly back. He was suddenly reminded of Rogue. They'd fought like this often.

"She didn't have any strength! I was protecting her!" Natsu shouted back.

Sting glared harder, this time out of anger, "Then why didn't you train with her?"

"I trained a lot!"

"Not WITH Lucy!" he emphasized.

"Why would I train with Luce?" Natsu growled. He really didn't understand where this was going. Luce hadn't wanted to train. She hated hard work. Hated hard missions. Hated fighting. So Natsu trained to make up the difference.

"Uh, I don't know, maybe so she felt like she was a contributing member of your team instead of live bait!"

"We never used Luce as bait!" Natsu argued back, agitated.

Sting didn't reply, but gave the stubborn slayer a pointed looked.

"Fine, but that was what she was good at!"

Sting stopped glaring and instead just looked tired, "She hated that, Natsu. Didn't you ever listen?"

Natsu stepped back from the white dragon. He felt disgruntled. Of course he had listened. Hadn't he? Before he could delve too far into that line of thought, Happy interrupted it.

"Natsu!" A blue ball of fur whipped into the restaurant. "Zeref went all macho on the room window and jumped out!"

"You left Zeref alone?" Sting sputtered angrily. "Dude is a fuckin' psychopath! ...I don't care what Lucy says," he added under his breath.

Happy glared at Sting, "He jumped out the window…. I think he went after that creature that showed up in town."

"Oh, so Zeref gets to go help Luce, but I can't?" Natsu prattled, unfazed by Sting's remarks. Mostly because he agreed. Leaving Zeref alone was a mistake. Curse or no curse, his brother was a weird one. Probably insane. Definitely demented.

"Aye!" Happy called. "Let's go too!" Happy swooped in with wings spread ready to grab onto Natsu and lift him out of the building.

"NO!" Sting called, stopping the two in their tracks. "We can hunt down Zeref, but we stay out of Lucy's way, got it!"

Happy considered what Sting said and then agreed, "Aye Sir!" His paws dug into the back of Natsu's coat and hefted his best friend up. They were out the hotel front doors and in the air within moments. Sting trailed behind, but followed as best he could without a flying companion. He didn't regret leaving Lector behind. With Zeref on Lucy's tail, he just couldn't bare the thought of his mouthy red kitten getting stuck in the crossfire. Lector was home with Frosch, or maybe on a job with Yukino, but either way, he was safe.

Sting ran by foot through the empty streets. He marveled slightly at how well Lucy had been able to quickly evacuate the panicked public. He saw tunnel openings on either side of the road, and then spotted the pink hair of her spirit, Virgo, who was searching through the rubble near one of two destroyed buildings.

"Virgo!" Sting called. "Any casualties?"

The maid spirit stood and glanced his way briefly before going back to work. Her high pitched voice was barely distinguishable when she softly replied, "Injured, but none dead. Punishment, Master Sting-sama?"

"Thank you for your hard work Virgo!" Sting grinned back before he started to seriously focus on tracking down the dark mage, Zeref. Zeref's scent profile was easy to remember and even easier to filter out from the dust, blood, tears, and rotten flesh scents that hung in the air like a fog.

God, that creature smelled nasty. Sting gagged. If he hadn't wanted to show up the fire dragon so bad, he would have stopped to puke, just like others had… the smell of their vomit mixing with that of the rotten stench of the creature. It was beyond nauseating.

Darkness was a scent that Sting was familiar with, as Rogue was bathed in a similar scent, but Zeref's was cold where Rogue's was warm. There was a sense of fresh snow and pine that accompanied Zeref. Rogue was always cinnamon and chocolate. The two couldn't be more different. Rogue's shadows were a dark, dangerous magic, but whatever depth of darkness Rogue fiddled with, it was nothing compared to the void that resided within Zeref. Sting had no other way to describe it. Zeref's scent was a partial void of absolute blackness and desolation.

Soon, Sting was at the edge of the village and entering the forest. He could hear the beast crashing and failing around, the sound of Lucy's arrows zinging through the air and then meeting their target with a soft thunk. The sound of Leo the Lion's voice shouting his Regulus attack was barely discernible as the beast roared with an irritated ferocity that lit the sky on fire. Sting knew that Lucy was okay and that she was fighting and would win. His attention turned back to following the trail before him.

Even though Zeref's sent still lingered strongly along the path, it would have taken no super nose to follow where Zeref had gone. The man had run through the forest like the very devil had been after him. Which was kind of ironic considering most people still considered the dark mage to BE the devil incarnate. Broken branches, scraps of clothing, an entire sash of white cloth, and blood dotted the trail. Sting wondered if Zeref was hoping to have someone follow him… or had he been in that much of a rush? What could possibly put the most powerful mage on the planet into enough of a frenzy that he would have left fully bits of clothing behind?

Sting shuddered.

Was Lucy really safe?

Sting almost, ALMOST, veered off to the left and backtracked to where he heard Lucy fighting. Whatever was going on was more than just a creature in the woods, Zeref's tactless flight through the woods was proof enough. The white dragon closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had to have faith that she could handle herself. It was one of the things he was helping her work through, after all. She could do this. She was not a damsel in distress. No one needed to rescue her. It was against his draconic nature, however, to allow family to suffer and fight alone. But he had worked with her every 2 weeks, each visit to Sabertooth, to ensure that she felt like a capable mage. Slowly leveling her up from basic to basic with team, to Advanced, and then Advanced with team. She could do this. She was more than ready. Had already proved herself to his draconic instinct that she was a protector of his clan.

After reminding himself of all these things, Sting came upon the clearing where Zeref stood facing off against the mayor. In his mind, Sting did a happy dance. He KNEW that guy was no good. He wanted to called back to Lucy, who was gaining on this location slowly, a big 'I told ya so!', but he kept his mouth closed. The two in the clearing were not alone, they were chatting about something, and Sting was eager to hear what they were saying.

Meanwhile, Natsu was cheerful. Happy was being his old self again, and that made Natsu feel a bit more whole. He hadn't realized how strained their relationship was until now. He had been keeping Happy away from everyone at the guild, forcing him to keep secret the dark nature of Natsu's magic, and even worse, preventing him the comfort of their friend, Lucy. Despite how much Happy picked on the girl, Natsu knew that Luce meant more to Happy than just about anyone. The cat had been even more shook than Natsu had been when they'd watched Future Lucy die.

…

 _"It's okay, Happy, Lucy is still here, we protected her future."_

 _"But Lucy died! It doesn't matter what we did, she is still gone!"_

 _"Happy…"_

 _"Lucy is dead and we never even went back to bury her body!"_

 _"Her body disappeared, Happy, just like the dragons' did."_

 _"This is all the Princess's fault. First she arrests Lucy and throws her in jail so her key can be used against her will! Then she is thrown into that cave to be executed! Then we had to watch her DIE! I HATE HER! I HATE THE PRINCESS!"_

 _"Happy! It wasn't her fault, you know that. Future Rogue orchestrated the whole thing!"_

 _"Shut up Natsu! You just don't like Lucy like I do! You don't understand!"_

...

Happy had wanted to go after Princess Hisui and demand some sort of apology or compensation for Lucy's death, but Natsu had talked him down. The Princess hadn't known. It wasn't her fault. Happy had thrown a fit for a whole week after the celebration ball, going on about how that King Fiore hadn't done anything to punish his daughter. That making the girl wear a stupid pumpkin hat wasn't a real punishment for nearly destroying the world. He'd been even more angry that Natsu and Lucy had laughed and worn similar pumpkin hats to ease the Princess's embarrassment.

He'd come around, though. He always did. It was one of Happy's better qualities.

Natsu watched Lucy battle from the sky. Happy was following Sting's trail through the woods below, and since Natsu had little else to do, he observed his partner in action. She was a glow of shimmering light as she morphed from one Star Dress to another. Loke, the ever loyal spirit, was punching the ever living hell out of the creature, who suddenly fell into a pit, only to then be pelted by sand hard enough to rip one of three heads off the beast's shoulder. The thing hissed like an angry cat as Lucy's next volley of arrow stuck into the exposed flesh of the missing head.

"Lucy is kicking ass down there, Happy! Drop me! I wanna fight toooo!" he whined.

"No Natsu, Sting is right. She doesn't want your help!" Happy chastised his friend.

Natsu crossed his arms over his chest and grumped. "That's ridiculous. Lucy believes in fighting with your friends, for your friends."

Happy sighed, "Lucy isn't the same anymore."

"Why not?"

Happy ignored his question, not entirely sure how to answer. Happy didn't really understand why Lucy was so different, he just know that she was. What Happy was aware of, however, was how many insecurities Lucy had developed over the years.

…

 _"Lucy! Let's get breakfast!"_

 _"Yeah okay, Happy. I'll grab my shake and meet you downstairs. You wouldn't think it, but Orga makes some mean pancakes, why don't you order some."_

 _"Are you finally on a diet Lucy? Is that why you only drink diet shakes for breakfast…. Hahahahaha! I told you, you were fat!"_

 _"I know, Happy…"_

….

 _"Hey Lucy what'cha doing now?"_

 _"Uh, working out?"_

 _Snicker, "Oh yeah?," snicker, "where's all the weights?!" Laughter._

….

 _"How far are you going to run?"_

 _"Another two miles," Deep breath, pant, wease, pant._

 _"I don't think you'll make it, I would fly you, but," snicker, "you're still so fat!"_

 _"I know, Happy…"_

….

 _"Lucy, why aren't you fighting back anymore? Do you not like me?"_

 _"What? What are you talking about Happy?"_

 _"You used to yell at me when I called you fat, but now, you just say you know…"_

 _Shrug, "I guess I finally looked in the mirror, Happy." Sad smile._

….

 _"Oh, you're going to spare with Orga! Whoa! I bet you won't even last a minute against him!"_

 _"It is just a test of skill, so it isn't like he will use the big attacks, Happy."_

 _"But even his little attacks would wipe you out," snicker, "can you even fight?!"_

 _Huff._

 _"Can they test you on being the best bait for a job?" Laughter._

 _"Maybe I should wait another week, train more… I'll never be enough..."_

….

The more time Happy had spent with Lucy while he'd stayed at Sabertooth, the more he recognized the difference. She wasn't fighting back and to say that she had a perfect body, thank you very much. She wasn't defending her ability to take care of herself. She wasn't sure about anything she was doing. Every time he tried to pick on her to rile her up, it only served to doubt herself more. This had never been the case before. She always had some retort to throw back his way. When he asked the others in Sabertooth about her behavior, they all glared back at him like it was his fault she had changed. By the time Natsu had come storming into the Saber's guild hall, he'd began to realize that maybe some of it was his fault.

He wasn't sure how to relay all of this to Natsu. She was different now because we made her different. She was different now because she forced herself to become someone new. She was different now because she was so broken that she'd had to start anew, from scratch. But he knew Natsu wouldn't, couldn't, understand that. Not yet, anyway.

Sting had stopped below on the edge of a clearing. Happy zoomed down and quietly placed Natsu near the other dragon slayer.

"I'm all fired up! Let's do this!" Natsu called out.

"Shhhh! I'm listening!" Sting hissed, grabbing Natsu by the scarf and pulling him back from storming the clearing.

"Hey Natsu?" Happy whispered. "Isn't that the guy who told us to stay away from Lucy?"

"Huh?" Natsu puzzled as he looked back into the clearing.

"The mayor told you to stay away?" Sting questioned.

"Yeah, the guy with white hair! He said something about being Zeref's brother!"

Sting's eyebrow raised. Natsu grunted unhappily as he was still being held back by the white dragon slayer.

Sting, however, never got a chance to listen in. Time seemed to flicker oddly around him and before he could fully understand what was going on, Zeref had brought four unconscious mages into the forest and thrown them at the Sabertooth guild master's feet.


	44. Chapter 44

Lucy was exhausted. Her magic had been depleted before she had even begun the fight, it was only through the divinity of her spirits that she could continue. She glanced Virgo's way and saw that the spirit was working diligently, shuffling through the rubble and helping injured get safely to the closest evacuation tunnel. Lucy couldn't relax, though. There was still a large beast rampaging through the forest and she needed to help Taurus fast.

"Star Dress: Scorpio!" Lucy called out while holding Scorpio's key up to her chest. The advanced speed given to her through Scorpio's magic had her advancing on the chimera's form as it broke the first line of trees and entered the forest. Lucy was quick to change forms, "Star Dress: Sagittarius!"

Lucy leaped up into the trees and took aim. She had been practicing marksmanship without the help of her Star Dress form. It helped her understand what the Star Dress called her to do and improved the power she was able to push into her arrows. She had also developed enough skill that her Star Shot skill increased, allowing her to turn one arrow of power into a dozen once they took flight.

"Star Shot!" She shot three arrows rapidly, and used her magic to increase their numbers as they flew through the air. Three dozen arrows of celestial magic shot through the air, each landing a hit on the back, haunches, or shoulders of the chimera. The beast roared, the lion head spitting fire in anger. Lucy closed Taurus's gate before he was burnt to a crisp, then opened Leo's gate in his absence. The drop of her magic as she simultaneously called for the lion's gate and held her Sagittarius Star Dress had Lucy feeling faint. She had called on too many spirits in quick succession while also donning so many star dress forms, all after having her magic explode earlier in the day. It was getting to be too much. The Star Dress vanished as Lucy swayed.

"Princess!" Loke chided his key holder as he opened his gate using his own magic, forgoing Lucy's summons. He was able to catch Lucy as she slipped off the branch she had crouched on in order to fire her arrows. He couldn't help the anger he felt at the girl for how far she was pushing herself. It couldn't be helped, though, this was the job she'd signed up for. He helped Lucy stand back up, her eyes blinked tiredly.

"I'm okay, Loke," She whispered. She could see his worry written all over his face and leaking out of his green eyes despite them being hidden behind the blue tint of his glasses.

Loke glared, unable to dignify her lie with a response.

She huffed. "It doesn't matter if I am or not, anyway. I have to stop that thing from terrorizing these people!"

"I know, doesn't mean I'm happy about the timing. It could have waited for your magic to return to normal…"

"I don't think real life works that way, Loke," Lucy smiled sadly.

They both watched as the chimera raged. It's snake head had unwound slightly from the human head on its shoulder and was striking uselessly at the small wounds the beast sported from Lucy's arrows.

"Tell me you have a plan?" the lion spirit asked.

"I'm trying to remember how to destroy Chimeras…"

"You don't know, do you," Loke's shoulders slumped.

"It's not exactly knowledge I carry around with me!" Lucy defended herself. "I guess we need a way to trap it and tear it apart so that it won't be able to get back up again."

Loke wanted to comment on how much she sounded like Erza or Natsu in that moment, but held his tongue.

"Ready?" Lucy pulled Virgo's key from the pouch at her hip. "Star Dress: Virgo Form!" And suddenly she was back to wearing a maid's uniform. The magic of her spirit flowed into her, replenishing her reserves for the time being.

"Uh?" was Loke's response.

"Hit it as hard as you can. Try to damaged the stitching holding the parts together. I'm going to trap it and then blast it."

"Right."

"Lion's head first!"

The two separated to do their tasks. Lucy used Virgo's diver magic to sneak up behind the three headed beast, while Loke powered up his Regulus magic and jumped into a frenzy of attacks aimed at the lion head's sutures.

Lucy popped up from below the creature and called forth the earth magic that was second nature to Virgo. "Spica Hole!"

A deep crater formed under the beast, the loss of ground beneath it's paws made the chimera waver comically above the ground before falling into the chasm. "Spica Lock!" Earth roared up and fell in, burying the chimera up to its shoulders under dirt and rock.

Lucy knew that the raging monster would not be locked in for long, so she quickly phased into her Scorpio Star Dress and blasted the creature's lion head with a funnel of sand. The sand had a similar effect as dozens of small knives as the small grains blasted the thick rope that bound the head to the body.

Lucy mentally commended Loke on a job well done, when the head came loose and rolled off, hitting the ground with a dull thud. Her congratulatory thoughts, however, were swiped from her mind as the stench from the Chimera's wound wafted in her direction on the breeze. It was enough to bring her to her knees, heaving as her lungs struggled to take in the putrid smell. Her lungs seemed to go on strike as they refused to inflate.

Loke was better off, but not by much. Meat was a smell Lion's were drawn to. The smell of the kill. Food. But the Chimera was rotted and the meat no longer fresh. It made the Lion in him want to turn away to find a different meal to fell. But he couldn't do something like that to Lucy. It didn't matter the state of the meat in front of him or what his instincts pushed him to do. Lucy was his key holder, he owed her his life. He would not let her down.

As Lucy fought to gain control over her body, and Loke pushed himself to continue the fight, the Chimera was able to work itself free. The snake head was now fully uncoiled from the human head, it's jaws open and a loud hissing could be heard as it's hood opened in warning of an attack.

"Shit," was all Lucy could managed to cough out as the whip-like tail smacked into her. A spike priced her side as the scaled, wiry flesh swept her off her feet and slammed her into the trunk of a tree. There was a cracking sound that echoed through the forest. Lucy was in a daze. She wasn't sure if the crack indicated her spine was broken or if it came from the trunk of the tree behind her splitting a part. It sure felt like her spine was broken.

The tail pulled back like a whip, jarring the poor blonde as its spike was ripped back out of her abdomen. Lucy was fairly certain she was bleeding to death. "Gemini!" Lucy croaked. The twins appeared, but not before the tail managed to slam into Lucy. There was a crack and then crunch of bones as they broke and rubbed against each other from the force of the monster's tail as it pushed her through one tree and then into the next.

Lucy coughed up blood. Her Lungs didn't want to work, they were probably punctured. The tail was whipping back around when Loke appeared to intercept. Using the power of Regulus, Loke forced the powerful tail to miss it's mark.

"Gemini! Turn into Wendy! Heal Lucy!" Loke shouted as she blocked another swing of the tail.

Gemini wasted no time. In a poof of sparkles and fog, Gemi-Wendy appeared with softly glowing hands. Once Lucy's injuries were assessed, Gemi-Wendy started the healing process. It was going to take a lot of magic. Lucy's ribs were shattered and her lungs were ripped to shreds. The spike that had hit her side had torn through her intestines and stomach, causing massive internal bleeding mixed with the natural toxins found in those organs. Not to mention her spinal cord had been severed when her back broke as she hit the first tree. Gemini was crying. The twins unsure if they could fix all the damage with the minimal amount of magic Lucy had left to lend them. If only they could get Lucy into their Star Dress, it would open up her body to accepting their magic stored in the Celestial realm.

"Lucy, can you concentrate on our Star Dress form?" Gemi-Wendy asked softly as the sky dragon's healing warmth flowed through their fingers and into their key holder's brutalized body.

Lucy couldn't respond, but she did as she was asked. Barely holding on to consciousness and with almost no magical reserves left, Lucy reached deep within herself and called to the Gemini Star Dress form. For long moments nothing happened, and Lucy began to lose what little hope she had in the situation. She was going to die here. She hadn't been strong enough after all. In the end, she would always fail her most beloved family. Her spirits.

"LUCY! Don't give up on me now!" Loke's voice yelled. He could feel her slipping away through the bond all spirits shared with their key holders. "You are not weak! You will not die here. You have a job to do!" Loke's fist were ignited with the overflow of feelings. Lucy was the one who saved him from dying. There was no way she was going to die like this on his watch. He had promised to protect her with his life. "You can do this Lucy!" He called, willing his voice to reach her. Willing her to see what he saw in her every day. She was beautiful. Strong. Kind. Smart. She had more promise and power in her pinky than most people saw in their whole lives because she loved fully and without restriction or hesitation. He willed her to see it.

Tears fell from the celestial mage's eyes as she heard the absolute confidence in Loke's voice. But the hopelessness was a chasm inside her heart. A black stain that could not just be wiped clean with words. And she knew, she KNEW, that Loke was just desperate, that he just didn't want another key holder to die. It didn't matter that it was her. It was the situation. This fact gave her what she needed, though. It wasn't that she could do this, it was that she had to, needed to. Not for herself, but for Loke who didn't deserve to be banished again. For Gemini who had finally found a place that did not use their power for all the wrong things. For Virgo who had done more for Lucy than she had ever asked for. For Aquarius. If she died, what did Aquarius's sacrifice mean? She could not fail them.

Lucy pushed at the barriers of her magical container. There had to be something left, something more. She internally screeched and clawed at the walls around her searching for a way to find what she needed. Finally she found, what felt like, a precipice to something more, so much more. The edge of a cliff with jagged outcroppings and a darkness below that looked endless and deep. She didn't hesitate as she threw herself over the ledge and dived down into the depths of her shattered soul reaching for the power she needed to prevent her own death.

The further she fell within herself the less she became aware of what was going on around her. But she could feel it, she was so close. There was something at the bottom of this pit that she needed, so she reached for it, willing herself to fall faster.

And then there they were. The faces of all her friends, family, the people she loved. Loke, Aquarius, Virgo, Gemini, Aries, Erza, Gray, Happy, Levi, Gajeel, Juvia, Mira, Cana, Laxus, Sting, Rogue, Yukino, Minerva, Rufus, Orga… Natsu. They seemed to hover around her as they called out to her. _Don't die, Lucy! You must live for your friends!_ It was a montra they roared in her ears as she fell into the darkest depths of herself. Falling, Falling. _Live. LIVE._

"LEO! I think I'm losing her!" Gemi-Wendy shouted over the hissing and wailing of the beast as the leader of the Zodiac fought with every bit of his strength.

"LUCY!" Loke called. "Don't do this! You need to stay with us!" He was beginning to panic. If she died, their contract would be broken. Gemini would return to the celestial realm and be unable to help bring the their key holder back. If she died, the Spirit King would rend the heavens and shake the world in his grief. If she died, Loke would… he would…

Suddenly there was a flow of magic unlike anything Loke had ever felt. It flooded outwards from Lucy like a soft river of light. As the light and power pressed against the chimera, it's human head screeched with such pain that Loke had to cover his ears to guard them from the grating, high pitched keening sound. The snake head writhed, flopping about on the beast's back like a fish out of water. The creature attempted to bound away from the light and magic, but fumbled over the severed lion head and fell to its side. Its front claws scraped wildly at the forest floor and its haunches kicked powerfully as it scrambled to get up and move away.

The burst of magic energized Loke and filled Gemi-Wendy to the brim. Loke was able to harness more of his magic on Earthland than he'd ever been able to before as he took up a fighting stance, ready to tear the beast a part. Gemini was able to push out enough healing magic that Lucy's bones were quickly re-aligned, set, and healed. Her internal organs patched. Her blood cleaned. Her side stitched back together with newly formed skin.

A gasp left the celestial mage's lips as her lung were once again able to inflate freely. Her eyes shot open, honey brown lit with golden hues . "Thank you Gemini," the star mage spoke quietly, before closing the twin's gate. Lucy grabbed Taurus's key and held it to her chest, "Star Dress: Taurus!" Magic zipped through her veins as whatever well of power she had found within mixed with the earth spirit's true celestial magic.

Lucy cracked her whip against the ground and the earth began to quake as a fissure broke the crust of the forest floor, "EARTH WAVE!"

A tremendous amount of power struck the back end of the chimera. The ropes holding the hind legs of the creature to the body started to snap from the force. It's tail whipped wildly, but with Taurus's strength now heightened through her new source of power, Lucy was able to block the whip-like appendage and grab on. Instead of being pulled off her feet, Lucy stood firm, yanking on the tail with all of the Great Bull's strength ripping it free.

More stench filled the air as the underlying dead flesh of the creature was exposed, but this time, Lucy found that she couldn't care less. Her adrenaline pumped through her limbs forcing her to move, to fight, to not leave a bit of the creature left together.

"Star Dress: Cancer!" and then she was running up the back end of the beast, dual scissor blades in hand. She sliced at the remaining sutures that kept the hind legs in place. The snake head was furious, but unable to focus on Lucy due to Loke's flurry of attacks. Lucy used sheathed on of her blades and used her whip to tie off on the ratted ends of rope so she could slice at the sutures under the beast's belly. There were only a few stitches left to go and Cancer's blades were slicing through them as if they were made of soft butter. Lucy was quick to hack through the last stitch. The hind quarters of the Chimera fell off from the back of the body, dropping to the ground like dead weight. Lucy had to think quick so that she didn't go down with the fallen body part. She reached and jumped, using the blade of her scissor sword like an ice pick, digging it into the chimera's back to keep from falling to the ground. Her feet dangled for a moment before she hefted her self further up the beasts back, using both blades as climbing tools.

Once again the stench became overwhelming. The wound in the animal was no longer just small spots of exposed dead flesh, but rather a gaping hole where a mixed pot of organs and entrails hung loose, spilling out onto the ground, some stretching between the fallen hind quarters and the upper half that was scrambling for purchase with its front clawed feet. The lower half was being dragged behind, catching on rocks and tree roots as the front half attempted to run from the onslaught of Loke's attacks, which were focused on the snake head.

If there had been anything left in Lucy's stomach, she would have lost it then. Instead, she fought through the dry heaving that caused her whole body to convulse and stumbled her way towards the human head attachment on the beast's shoulder. The thing was screaming, a dark guttural sound that reminded Lucy of her nightmares, of demons, darkness, death. The head had zero movement capabilities, but it nashed it's teeth and ground it's jaw as it roared in anger. The closer to the head the more her ears rang with the sound. It sent shivers down her spine and made memories swim through her. Flashes of Tartarus. Flashes of Alvarez. The fear pushed through her veins like hot fire, and quickly she found herself enraged. How dare this creature exist and cause any more pain to the world! How dare it try and scare her! How dare it destroy the livelihood of the people in the village! How dare it hurt her spirits! How dare it!

Loke was tearing at the seams while the snake head hissed and twisted trying to strike at the lion spirit. He felt full to the brim with Lucy's magic in combination to his own. It was like he was high on the Eclipse Gate particles again. His fingernails were now stretched into the frightening claws of his lion namesake. They were powerful and sharp as they ripped through rope and skin, fighting to dismember the snake head of the chimera. He was forced to dodge and roll as he maneuvered around the base of the neck. The damn thing kept coiling around itself in an effort to protect itself. Loke growled in agitation as his dragged his claws through the scales and flesh of the snake.

"Lucy! I need Cancer over here!" he called out to the key holder. In moments Cancer the Giant Crab was next to him, scissors snapping as he spired them into the snake. Together they ripped their way through scale and bone, tearing holes into the coils of the snake, until they reached their goal and ripped the sutures out. With an inhuman roar, a sonic boom that only a lion could produce, the snake head was torn from its place and thrown into the wilds of the forest.

Cancer's gate closed, the spirit disappearing in a flurry of sparkles and blood. Loke couldn't stop the feral grin that crossed his lips as he watched Lucy phase into her Taurus Star Dress and ripped the remaining head off the shoulders of the beast. The lion in him was immensely please that the female of his pride was so strong. Her power still zipped through his veins and he was close to losing himself in the sweat fire it ignited in his gut.

With all the heads now torn asunder, the front end of the beast stuttered and tripped over it's taloned paws. Lucy cracked her whip, wrapping it around Loke's steady forearm, so that she could swing up onto the back of the beast where she could ride out the sliding fall of the animal beneath her.

The two were panting and grinning with pride as what was left of the chimera stumbled to a stop at the edge of a clearing.

Lucy's victory smile faltered and Loke let loose a snarl as their eyes fell upon Zeref who was holding Xavion by the throat. Sting and Natsu were standing behind Xavion in a show of support. Four mages lay unconscious in a pile off to the side. She couldn't help the feeling of confusion and anger that seeped through her as everyone's eyes turned to her. What were they doing? Why were they threatening her client? Did they not trust that she could complete the job?

The adrenaline high she had been riding after her near death experience was cut short. Her thoughts shuddering to a stop as her overwhelming self-doubt clouded her eyes. Lucy took a step to forward, wanting to shout and scream at them for interfering, but instead she found her world swimming in vibrant colors before darkness took her.


	45. Chapter 45

"LUCE!"

"LUCY!"

Natsu started to run towards his blonde partner as she fell off the back of the dismembered monster, only to be pushed out of the way by Sting, who was beaten to the punch by Loke. The spirit glared at both dragon slayers through cracked, blue lenses. Loke was mad at Natsu for obvious reasons, but was peeved to find Sting there with the hot-head. It didn't settle well with him to have Zeref holding his key holder's client up by the neck either.

"What happened to her?" Strangely, at least to the Lion Spirit, the one who asked the question was the Mayor. He'd casually removed Zeref's grip around his throat and was now moving cautiously towards the unconscious celestial mage, which Loke couldn't help but grip a little tighter against himself as the odd man moved closer. Especially as twin growls rumbled from the two dragons and Zeref made moves to cut Xavion off.

Loke looked the Mayor up and down. He didn't know what he had 'walked' in on, but he would find out later. Right now, Lucy needed medical attention. "She opened her third origin after suffering severe magic deprivation and fatal injuries. I will need to take her into town."

"The hospital was not damaged, I hope?" Xavion questioned. His hazel-green eyes were intently roving over Lucy's form. Loke was guarded, not sure if the man was checking out his weakened master or if he was assessing her for injuries. The man's eyes were hard to read.

Natsu was in a rage, "I knew I should-da helped her! You!" the fire dragon pointed accusingly at Sting. "You said she would be fine!"

"She is fine!" Sting argued back. "Loke would have already gate jumped her to town if she was in real danger!"

"She got hurt and it's your fault!" Natsu shouted in a single minded determination.

Loke ignored the two arguing in favor of watching Zeref continuously attempt to block Xavion's attempts to get closer to Lucy. Zeref's face was set in an emotionless mask, while the Mayor was slowly growing frustrated.

"Loke, take Lucy back to town. I will deposit these mages at local law enforcement," Zeref ordered.

The lion spirit couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, but why are you here?" Loke responded. He respected Lucy's wish to do things herself. He wasn't going to let Zeref take over her job. "Who are these mages, anyway? Were they responsible for the Chimera?"

Zeref stepped in front of Xavion again. "Yes. The mayor too."

Loke looked to Sting and Natsu for confirmation of this fact, only to find the two still arguing over Lucy. He was weary of trusting the dark mage. It was clear that Zeref had his own motivations for everything that he did, and Loke was attempting to figure out his angle. Why was this mage so interested in Lucy. It made no sense. At first it seemed to be a means to and end to get to Natsu, but now he was with Natsu yet still seemed intent on intervening in Lucy's life. Why? What could Lucy offer the man?

"Now, brother, don't go confusing my clients. I am not the bad guy here," the white haired man chided through clenched teeth as he finally managed to push his way around the black haired man. "Lucy was being tested, and she passed. Bring her here, I can help restore some of her magic reserves."

Loke tensed. Tested? "So you did create the Chimera?"

"I'll burn you to ashes! You hurt Luce!" Natsu suddenly roared, breaking from the bickering he had been absorbed in with Sting. Like a bullet he shot across the short distance between himself and the Mayor with a burning fist.

Xavion blocked Natsu's punch. The forced pushed him back about a foot, but no damage was dealt. The Mayor glared at the seething fire mage, "Don't interrupt."

"She almost died!" Loke seethed as Natsu attempted to sweep the Mayor's feet, only for the man to nimbly dodge. Ever the tenacious fighter, Natsu was not discouraged as he raged against Xavion.

Xavion seemed to only give Natsu the bare minimum of needed attention as he dodged and blocked the fire dragon's initial attempts at revenge.

Dodge. "Ah, but she didn't." Jump. Duck. Dodge. Side Step. "She got stronger, didn't she?"

"EErrrgh! Stay still why don't 'cha!" Natsu yelled as he continued his assault.

"Natsu, calm down! Let the man explain. He hired Lucy for…." Sting was torn. He wanted to backup Natsu and kick the Mayor into next week. The idea that he would create a monster to devastate his own village just to 'test' Lucy… And if what Loke said was true and she'd almost died! It was unforgivable. But he was a guild master now. He had to act on facts and have all the information. He needed to know more before he could let go and ruin X's day.

"It doesn't matter!" Punch. Kick. "Look at her Sting!" Flaming fist. Flaming foot. "What this guy did was wrong!" Punch.

"Help me out here, Loke!" Sting called. "We have to stop the flaming idiot before he hurts himself."

"What'd you say?!" Natsu roared. "The only one getting hurt here today is this guy!" Natsu emphasized his point by finally landing a punch to Xavion's gut. The white haired man bent over from the force, but was not hurt and quickly dodged the next attack aimed at his head.

"I'm a little busy here, Sting," Loke rolled his eyes. His grip on Lucy did not falter as he jumped out of the way of Natsu rushing Xavion.

Zeref seemed indecisive. At least in Sting's opinion. The man was at the Mayor's throat just moments ago, ready to snap it when Sting and Natsu dragged the unconscious mages back into the clearing. But now the man was standing there watching the two battle it out with a kind of blank sadness. Sting would be damned if he asked the dark wizard to help him reel in his little brother. Especially because he was, after all, the Great Sting Eucliffe. He didn't need help to handle the younger Dragneel. Sting ignored the odd flashback of memories to the Grand Magic Games where Natsu had thoroughly handed him his ass.

So, the Great Sting Eucliffe stuck out his foot as Natsu mindlessly ran by him, tripping the excitable fire mage, and causing a rather humorous face plant. It might be over a year late, but it was a solid revenge, in Sting's opinion.

"Thank you, Master Sting," the Mayor hummed appreciatively.

Spit. Glare. "What they hell Sting!" Natsu grumbled.

"I told you to hear the guy out, Natsu!" Sting huffed. "This is a Sabertooth matter, anyway. You Fairies need to butt out," he added under his breath.

Xavion eyed Loke as Sting and Natsu glared daggers at each other. The mayor held out his arms, as if he was inviting Loke to hand over his charge. Loke didn't move, though. Like hell he was going to hand his Lucy over to anyone in this clearing. So he stood his ground and waited for the odd man to come to him.

Xavion smiled lightly, not showing his teeth, just a slight upturn of his lips. He put his hands up in a placating maor before slowly moving forward. "I won't hurt her…"

"Too late for that, don't you think," Loke's anger simmered in his response. "Tell me what this test was about. What do you want from Lucy?"

Xavion sighed tiredly. "I would rather explain everything while Lucy is awake…." He gestured towards the girl again, "May I?"

"I'm not handing her over to you, if that's what you're after…"

"Right, I shouldn't have assumed your trust," the Mayor replied. "I am just going to place my hand on her forehead, okay?"

Loke nodded, but kept a tight grip on Lucy.

Zeref was unsure what to do. He wanted to keep Xavion away from Lucy, but if he knew bad guys, which he did, then soon he would be listening to a monologue of Xavion's grand plan. Information, in this case, may be more important than keeping his brother's clone from touching the blonde. He wished he hadn't hesitated to snap the man's neck… Then it wouldn't matter what his grand plan was, but he wasn't expecting Sting and Natsu to be in the forest watching. They would have no doubt told Mavis on him… he wasn't supposed to kill anymore. It was hard. Harder than it should be considering how much he valued life. Despite the curse of Ankhseram having been lifted, there were lasting effects. After 400 years of forced contradictions, his mind had been conditioned to oppose itself. He was working on it. It was slow going.

On the other hand, he really did want to be brothers again with Natsu. Zeref was complete unsure what kind of explanation the clone would have, and the dark wizard was not prepared for Natsu's reaction to Xavion's origin. Zeref eyed his younger brother who was sitting crossed legged on the ground glaring at the Sabertooth Guild Master, who was ignoring him in favor of watching Xavion close in on Lucy.

Zeref could feel the activation of a curse. Teleportation. Natsu seemed to sense something was off as well, because the man was now looking up at Lucy in alarm.

"Don't let him touch her!" Natsu shouted, jumping from his spot on the ground. His fingers just barely grabbing onto Lucy's ankle before Xavion's palm landed on her forehead.

Zeref blinked, they were gone. Loke, Lucy, Natsu, and Xavion. Gone.

"Shit!" Sting yelled.

"Natsu!" Happy's small voice cried. He had been watching over the unconscious mages, quietly observing for once as the others fought.

Sting wheeled around to face Zeref, "Where would he have taken them!"

"I… I don't know."

"GRRAhhh!" Sting was more than frustrated. "You know more about that man than I do…" Sting poked at Zeref's chest. "I need to know what you know. We need to find them NOW."

Zeref agreed with the man. But. They would need help. "I'll tell you everything I know, but only if you come back to Fairy Tail with me. We'll need their help."

Sting's eyes narrowed and before he could think better of it, he punched Zeref in the face, causing the dark wizard's head to whip to the right. Hard black eyes met steely blue as the dark wizard rubbed out his cheek. "You could have stopped him," Sting seethed in explanation.

Zeref didn't argue.

"Happy, can you carry at least one of those guys back into town. I'll get the big fella, Zeref can get the rest," Sting ordered. The blue exceed nodded as he gripped the smallest of the four before rising into the air. Sting gripped the Boscan's wrist and yanked the man up before slinging him over his shoulder. "Let's go. We don't know what is going with Lucy, and we need to get organized fast. Zeref, talk to me on our way."

Zeref would never say it out loud, but he was impressed with how the young guild master was handling the situation. Despite the obvious rage that was rolling off the man in waves of light-like a small star was attempting to break out of the man's skin-he was keeping his cool and using the resources available to him to fix the problem. The young man had grown up considerably since the war that had nearly decimated his guild.

Zeref grabbed the remaining mages throwing one over a shoulder and dragging the second one behind him by the collar of his shirt.

"Talk," Sting demanded.

"Xavion is a magically generated biological clone of Natsu."

"Fuck," Sting murmured. "He isn't a dragon slayer," Sting stated. "And they smell different. Similar, but different."

Zeref continued, "Xavion is the tenth clone I made of Natsu. Designation Ten. Or X for short."

Sting stopped his trek. They had just entered the forested area and were following the trail Zeref had cut through the undergrowth in his rush to find X. "You mean to tell me there are at least ten...TEN more Natsu's just, what, living out their lives on Earthland?"

"Most are deceased."

Sting turned and started down the elder Dragneel. "You say that like it's no big thing."

Zeref shrugged. "There were clones, not the real thing. I used them in my attempts to bring Natsu back to life. Failed experiments were discarded."

"And that makes Xavion a success?" Sting scoffed. The more he learned about Zeref the more he was disgusted.

"For a time. He escaped before I could properly discard him. His insanity had made him too unstable."

"Okay," Sting took a deep breath. Now was not the time to go to war again with the dark wizard, especially when the man was probably the key to finding his kidnapped guild-mate. He started moving again. They needed to make it back to town and start heading to Magnolia as soon as possible. There was a part of him that wanted to argue that Sabertooth was closer, but Fairy Tail had a knack for these kinds of situations, especially when the person involved was Lucy.

"X showed the most promise. When he was first created he was the closest to Natsu's original personality. I treated him like a brother. Told him stories about when we were younger and about mom and dad. About our life. I hoped that I could cultivate a soul that was similar enough to the real Natsu that I could simply move it over and revive my lost brother…"

"Why not just keep the clone as the real Natsu…." Sting wondered.

A burst of power and rage washed through the woods, "BECAUSE he WASN'T really Natsu. Not MY Natsu."

"Well neither is the Natsu we have now!" Happy chirped. "He is demon, dragon Natsu!"

The wave of anger escalated, crackling with barely controlled black magic before it just completely stopped. Sting could smell the salty bitter scent of tears. "Your right…" the dark wizard murmured.

They continued. Silence prevailed for a few minutes as the group gathered themselves together again.

"So what happened?" Sting asked quietly.

Zeref laughed humorlessly. "Well it didn't work, did it! Hah! I was an idiot. I didn't truly understand the structure of the soul…. I guess I still don't."

"So why is Xavion still alive?" Happy wondered. "If you took his soul to try and put in Natsu's body, he should be dead, right?"

Zeref nodded to himself, "Yes, but I was so angry at my failure. I blamed him. He was the first 'demon' I created. The first time I 'created' a life by generating a soul using words. I brought him back to life and killed him again and again for his soul not being good enough."

"Psychopathic fuck head," Sting whispered as he kept moving forward. He would have to have a talk with Lucy when they got her back about whether or not they could safely kill Zeref without it taking out the flame headed idiot too.

"I used him for my other experiments. Now that I could destroy him completely, but then summon him back to life again and again, it made for less waste. My first experiments dealt with opening second and third origins, but I found that he no longer held the capacity for magic due to his lack of complex soul. This was part of the reason that I started to invent curses. I was worried that when I brought Natsu back to life, he would not be able to function as even a non-mage would. I was worried he would not be able to live long since his body wouldn't be able to naturally absorb the ethernano in the environment."

"So X uses curses like the Etherious Demons did?" Happy questioned.

"Yes. In a way."

"Explain," Sting's voice was clipped. He was having trouble supporting Zeref's rights to life at the moment, so he kept his end of the conversation short.

"He was my test subject. So he can use parts of many curses."

"Like…"

"Thorns. Electricity. Black Water. Teleportation. Explosion. Pleasure. Creation. Death. Fire."

"Like Bloodman?" Happy asked, his voice sounding worried and scared.

"Yes and no. X went through many iterations of each curse as I developed them. Some of the curses he has are incomplete versions. Some are more or less powerful than they were when I concluded my research. I learned a lot because of him." Zeref said the last part in a kind of wistful tone, which had Sting grinding his teeth as scales flicked over his body.

"So, why was X a failed experiment?" Happy asked.

Sting was grateful the little fur ball was there and able to continue the conversation. Sting wasn't sure he would be able to speak to Zeref without a Holy Nova escaping between his lips. The man was sick. Who just created people and then threw them away like trash? Only to bring them back and torture them through experiment and design. Zeref had said that he was able to completed destroy and recreate Xavion over and over again. What kind of painful cycle of death had that man lived? Suddenly, Sting wasn't sure who the bad guy was anymore. Lucy was notorious for accidentally fixing people. Was that was Xavion wanted?

"X was a failed experiment because the wording of his life tether, or soul, whatever, was too vague. He was uncontrollable. Didn't have a focused purpose. It made him strained, mentally, and rather obtuse to deal with."

"And you let him run away?" Happy continued.

"I didn't let him. I underestimated the amount of power he had obtained from the curse experiments. It never happened again."

"So, is Lucy in danger? Why does he want her?"

"I do not think Lucy is in direct danger from Designation Ten." Zeref was silent for a moment. "Natsu, on the other hand…."

"What do you mean? Why is Natsu in danger?"

"X hates him. Loathes, maybe is a better word. Perhaps the amount of dislike X has for Natsu cannot be described with any one word," Zeref mused. "To X, he WAS Natsu. For years, that is how I treated him. Until he wasn't."

Sting was seething.

"As to why X wants Lucy?" Zeref continued. "I assume he believes she can do something for him that I cannot."

"What?" Happy asked.

"Fix his soul."


	46. Chapter 46

Loke's gate was forced shut during the transition between space. He found himself stuck in the Celestial World with his gate shut tight behind him. The Lion Spirit immediately made his way to Virgo, who wasn't able to open her gate either. With a roar of agitated that echoed through the vast space that made up the celestial word, Leo the Lion made way for the central palace where the Spirit King dwelled. He felt like he was storming the castle, and in a way he was. The Spirit King would force the gates to open so that he could return to his key holder's side. The King was going to do this for him, or else.

Or else Leo would probably be banished again for being imprudent.

Luckily, the King of the Celestial World was rather fond of Lucy, and was already greatly concerned for her and the state of their realm as her magic increasingly went berserk. Each time, the passage between worlds was ripped asunder, the veil was becoming too thin and if she couldn't gain control soon, the two would slowly start to merge. This was more than just a little problem. Humans couldn't live in the Celestial World without special clothing. Spirits couldn't live on Earthland without tapping into the magic of a Celestial mage. It worried all of them, and the source of her problem wasn't entirely clear. Mixing these two places together would have unknown, harmful effects on both groups. World ending consequences.

Leo pushed the grand, larger-than-necessary (even for the giant King) doors to the palace open with enough force that they slammed against the crystal walls with and echoing crunch.

"Old friend…"

"Open the gates!" Leo yelled without preamble. "Lucy needs me, open the gates!"

The giant Spirit known as Seirei-o was pacing the floor of his palace. He had expected his old friend and was not surprised by his demands. His mustache, which had always appeared to be rather long nose hairs in Leo's opinion, twitched, but his face revealed none of his internal turmoil. He had to do this to protect his world and also Lucy's. Until her magic was under control, it would be too dangerous now for the realms to be open to each other. Lucy's immense magical strength had been doubled with interest after her third origin was ripped open during her recent battle. There would be no stopping the merging of the worlds if she were to lose control again if the gates remained in place.

"I cannot, Old Friend. I have closed them myself. The gates are sealed."

"WHAT?! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT! LUCY IS IN THE HANDS OF SOME UNKNOWN MAN, AND YOU SEAL THE GATES SHUT? HOW WILL SHE FIGHT?!" Leo was beyond enraged. He would have started throwing punches if he wasn't so incredibly sure how stupid of an idea that would be. Seirei-o strength was vast, Leo would bounce off his magical presence before getting close enough to land a hit. But that didn't stop Leo from igniting his fights in the pure light of his star system in display of his rage.

"It is for the safety of everyone."

"EVERYONE? WHAT ABOUT LUCY?"

"Son of Igneel, Natsu Dragneel, will see to her safety now. We cannot be at the mercy of her magic now that her third origin has been opened. Our realms are on the precipice of catastrophe."

"NATSU! You are kidding me, right?"

"The boy will not let us down, Leo the Lion. Be calm. Have faith in your friends."

Leo scoffed and kicked at the marbled floor like a child. "Friends…" he mumbled. "Yeah right."

* * *

Natsu landed very disorientated with his hand still locked tight around Lucy's ankle. The girl in question dropped to the ground now that the spirit that had been holding her tightly was no longer there. Her fall from grace dragged the dragon slayer down with her and they landed awkwardly on a soft carpeted floor. Natsu's face was pressed into one of Lucy's thighs, the rough fabric of her work pants were the opposite texture he was used to when 'accidentally' copping a feel from his partner. Since when did Lucy wear anything other than a barely there skirts?

Before any other contemplation on the matter could be had, Natsu was yanked roughly off of Lucy and tossed to the side like a sack of flour. The white haired man with the X tattoo across his face was looking tenderly down at the still out-cold Celestial mage. The man's hand shook while he reached out to the blonde's face and lightly brushed his fingers against her cheek. The tenderness of the moment was at odds with the scent that rolled off from the man. Natsu recognized it immediately as the underlying tone that filled the bedroom he, Zeref, and Happy broke into yesterday. This was the man who hired Lucy for the job. He'd created the Chimera that injured his friend. He was looking at Luce like he was looking at an angel fresh out of the gates of heaven. Natsu's stomach twisted at the notion that the man who owned the bedroom filled with the scent of blood and fear would have any right to touch the girl lying helplessly on the floor.

"Don't touch her," Natsu spit out.

Hazel-green eyes framed with pure white locks of silk met the angry hazel-green of the pinked haired dragon slayer. They were the same eyes, identical down to the very cells that made them up. The only difference was the shape they held in that moment. Xavion's were wide and filled with fiery mirth, while Natsu's were squinted into a serious glare.

Sharp teeth were revealed when Xavion laughed. "You...You think... you have a … a say?" His words were broken as he continued to laugh hysterically. "You've been out of her life for so long, and here you are tryin' to play hero again. Hah!"

Natsu's chest rumbled with a growl and his eyes stilted. "My memories were gone, I didn't know…"

Natsu was still digesting all that had happened since the war. Without his memories of Lucy locked away, there were tidal waves of feelings and images that were crashing against the shores of his mind and he was unable to process it all yet. He was responding instinctualy based on the accumulation of actions taken towards his friends time and time again. Protect. Guard. Fight.

Currently guilt was in the sea spray as the waves of emotion continued crashing in on him. He'd left her alone for so long… After he'd promised to never do that to her again. Then there was fear as the traumatic memories of her bounced around his mind-this situation reminding him of every other one in which Lucy had been targeted or kidnapped. The times when he'd thought he'd lost her. Here they were again. Lucy looking like she could be dead and helpless on the ground and Natsu wanting to rip the world a part in order to make her feel better. To make things right. He never meant to leave her alone. God, how could he have forgotten Luce?

What was it that this new enemy wanted with his Luce? Why couldn't people just leave her alone? She'd been through so much.

"Hah! Right! Classic." Xavion was chuckling. His eyes danced in delight at Natsu's anger and obvious clashing emotions.

"You want to know the best part about your mysterious memory loss?" Xavion looked down at Lucy and brushed his knuckles against her forehead. Her blonde hair was a mess. There was dried blood stuck to her skin. Bruising was forming across what he could see of her chest. Her spirit had said she almost died. He was concerned about other injuries that were hidden under her clothes. If she had almost died, was she in need of immediate healing now? He wanted to whimper at the thought of her not making it, of him not getting a chance to be whole again. None of the curses he was 'blessed' with helped him heal anyone. Even the creation curse he'd used to bring the Chimera to life couldn't bring magic or healing to anyone. No. He was going to have to wait for her to recover her senses on her own.

"What exactly was the 'best' part?" Natsu couldn't think of anything that was good about losing his memory. This Xavor? Xaxs? Vonnie? … Guy was enjoying this all way too much. And he kept touching Lucy. "I said don't touch her!" he repeated.

"It was Lucy who made you forget!" the man grinned. It was so similar to Natsu's normal shit-eating grin, but with the sharp teeth and the crazed looked that resided deep in the man's eyes, the normally cheerful expression was turned into something sinister and horrifying.

Time stopped and the world went silent as those words slowly cut through the whole of Natsu's being. "What?" he whispered. "No." His head started shaking back and forth as if he was trying to dislodge the potency of the words spoken to him. There was no way Luce would do something so vile. "You're lying!"

It didn't even make sense! Lucy wasn't a memory mage, and neither were any of her spirits! She had no ability to manipulate someone's memory. Natsu's teeth clenched. Even if she did somehow have that ability, why would she target him? They were best friends! Everything was more fun when they were together. A stab of something intense and sharp ran through his chest and he felt his heart flutter in agony. No. He and Lucy… Lucy...

"Even better is that she believes it is what you wanted! If I had known how easy it would be to tear the two of you a part, I would have tried it ages ago!"

Easy to rip them apart? Natsu repeated the phrase over and over in his head. It had been easy to rip he and Lucy a part? How? After everything they'd been through together… there was just no way that any sort of wedge could be driven between them. They trusted each other implicitly. All of team Natsu did. Hadn't their trust been tested time and time again and they had always come out on top. What could have happened to shake that foundation? How could Luce ever believe that he would want to forget about her? Even if he HAD told her that, Lucy would never just up and modify someone's memory like that, right? It was just… wrong. Natsu's mind flashed to Mest… Maybe there were extenuating circumstances? No! She'd never agree to be without him. Just like he'd never agree to be without her!

Xavion stood and in a wisp of flame and smoke he turned into a replica of Natsu. X went on to mimic the fight between Lucy and 'Natsu', "Oh Natsu," he changed his voice to a higher pitch to represent Lucy's, "why'd you leave me behind for a year?" X spoke normally, "Well, Luce, it was because you are a weak silly girl and I can't stand you." High pitched again, "You're Lying!" Normal, "No, Lucy, you were an obligation and a burden. I never want to partner with you again." Xavion laughed at the horrified and pained look on Natsu's face.

"It was you?!"

High pitched, "But Natsu, I love you!" Normal voice, "Don't you get it Lucy, I hate you, I wish I'd never met you!"

Natsu's eyes were suddenly surrounded by red scales as his irises turned red and the color bled into the whites. The black ink-like stain that surrounded his cuticles rapidly spread up his arms in spiraling patterns and his nails extended into sharp claws.

The growl that left Natsu's chest as he prepared to pounce on the bastard in front of him shook the ground with its intensity.

"You made her like this! You took her from Fairy Tail!" Natsu yelled as his fists ignited with flames. He could feel the curse that he was imbued with activate and the part of him that was END started to feed the part of him that was Dragon, and his flames burst outwards with an heated intensity that both excited the avid fighter, but also made him weary. He had been using the six months of jobs with Happy to try and merge his magics together seamlessly, but he wasn't in complete control of it. If he was angry enough, it was easy for him to lose control of the fires, and occasionally blackout.

The outburst of flames and heat coming from the angry fire dragon had the floor they had landed on after being teleported so hot that it was incinerated into ash before it truly had time to burn.

"Oh no you don't, not another house, you fucker!" Xavion glared. He wanted to subdue Natsu, but was unsure how to go about it. He not only wanted to save his house, but the had to keep Lucy from gaining any further injuries.

Natsu ignored Xavion's warning glare and launched himself at the man who had turned his best friend against him. "I turn you into ashes!"

Natsu landed a hard, fiery kick to Xavion, knocking him back from his kneeling position near Lucy. X flew back into a hard wall that boarded the outside of his second home. The clone could feel his ribs creak from the force of impact, but thankfully nothing snapped. He had all of Zeref's meddling to thank for that. While he was still breakable, his durability was incredible.

The house Xavion teleported them to was old, styled like a miniature castle, and made of stone and mortar, unlike the new architecture and materials used for the mayor's house in the small foresting village. The outer walls of the structure were enforced with runes, which was the only reason he hadn't slammed through to the outside from the force of Natsu's kick. The house was more a fortress, honestly, and Xavion had owned it for over 250 years. There were servants quarters down below in the basement, accessible through a separate entrance along the left side of the home. The main level had a few roomy living spaces with minimum furnishings, the heart of the home was the kitchen, after all. There was also a separate dining hall, office, and library as well as a simple bath for guests to use. The second floor held five bedrooms, including the master suite, and another guest bath. Over the years, the home had been updated with running water and plumbing and modern lighting. But the general feel of the place was of Gothic styles and old money.

The living space that he had teleported them to was quickly catching on fire and the white haired man found himself annoyed with Natsu's recklessness. He would use his black waters curse to put out the flames, but it could potentially kill Lucy, which was not an option.

Before Xavion could come up with a plan, however, Natsu was on him, pounding punch after punch into his gut. It was painful, and it didn't help that every time he was slammed back against the wall, the runes there would react and send him away again. He felt like he was bouncing between the metaphorical rock and hard place. But he didn't want to fight back, if he did Lucy might see it as a sign of aggression and not help him. He had to be careful what side of himself he showed. He glanced at the girl. Her skin was slick with sweat from the heat, but she was not waking. The fire from Natsu's enormous ego was slowly spreading along the outside of the room, catching the sparse furnishing aflame as well the the curtains stylishly hung to frame the large windows. He was worried she would get burned or suffocate from the smoke now filling the room. Why wasn't Natsu realizing the harm he was causing? One thing was clear, he needed to make Natsu stop.

"Stop this now! The fire will hurt Lucy!"

"My fire would never hurt her!" Natsu shouted back.

Xavion snarled at the pink haired idiot, "Maybe not, but last I checked smoke inhalation is still fatal!"

He pushed Natsu away. It looked like a simple action, almost effortless, but the reaction was extreme. Natsu was pushed onto his back and slid across the floor before his head met with the brick wall that boarded X's kitchen. It was no surprise to Xavion that Natsu's head broke through the wall. Despite Natsu's current position, his head through a brick wall, being the white haired man's fault, Xavion was angry with Natsu for causing it, "Can you stop destroying my house now!"

X strode confidently to where Natsu was currently stuck and pulled on his leg hard. Now that the pinkett's head was dislodged, the clone flung him back against the runic barrier of the outer wall. The dragon slayer bounced off and landed in a huff on his chest. X moved to the downed fire mage and grabbed him by his pink locks, pulling his head off the charred floor and forcing him to look in Lucy's direction.

"You will eat these flame now and protect Lucy from further harm, got it."

Natsu glared hard at the white haired man, but he agreed to do what was necessary to protect his friend. So Natsu pushed off the ground and batted X's hand away before sucking in the flames that were slowly closing in on Lucy's unconscious form.

As he slurped up the last of the fire, he turned to grin at the man, "Thanks for the meal." He wiped at the corner of his mouth and then rushed Xavion again, this time without his magic.

Natsu was angry. Xavion was the reason Lucy left Fairy Tail. He'd lied to her so she'd turn away from her family. It was something Natsu could never forgive. He tackled Xavion down to the ground. The stone flooring was now exposed due to the nature of his magic, and Natsu was pleased to find that the asshole who stole Luce from him could bleed. He could smell it after they guy's back hit the floor. After the barrage of punches he threw at the guy earlier and his lack of visible damage, Natsu wasn't quite sure who or what he was dealing with. But if the guy could bleed… He wasn't unbeatable.

He threw a punch down at the white haired man pinned beneath him. Xavion blocked using his forearms to protect his face and head. "WHY?" Natsu questioned, "WHY'D YA TAKE LUCY AWAY FROM FAIRY TAIL!"

Xavion continued to block his face as Natsu punched at him again. The punches hit hard, and Xavion could feel the creak of bone in his arms as they threatened to break from the force of each hit. Although he'd watched Natsu closely prior to the war with Zeref, he had not taken the time to do so afterwards. The power and strength he'd observed the dragon slayer using at the time seemed to be the boy's limit, so he hadn't bothered. He understood his mistake now, but the realization of what Lucy had been able to accomplish for the now demon-dragon just made him more anxious for her to wake up.

"Answer me! Why. Did. You. Take. Luce!" Each word from Natsu was punctuated by a bone crushing punch.

"Because," Xavion parted his forearms enough to allow Natsu's fist to penetrate before closing the gap and trapping him. He twisted the trapped arm by turning his arms to the side. The movement wrenched at Natsu's shoulder as X rolled to the side and raised his hips to force the enraged fire mage from his perch. It changed their positions and now Xavion had the top spot. He held Natsu's fist against the boy's chest in an effort to cease his movements. "Fairy Tail doesn't deserve her," he finished.

Natsu struggled to get free. "And what do you know about what Luce deserves!" he bit back. Natsu did not like being pinned. He really did not like any of what was happening. How was this stupid Mayor guy so strong? Just who was he? Where was he when they were fighting Zeref? What the hell did he have against Fairy Tail?

"I've known 'Luce' her whole life and she deserves better than to be be called ugly, fat, weak, and a wanna-be mage like your so called nakama do every time she turns her back."

Natsu's eyes widened and then narrowed, "No one at Fairy Tail would do that to Luce!"

"Are you kidding me!?" Xavion scoffed as he pressed down harder on Natsu's chest to keep him from squirming. "You and your ass-hat cat were the worst offenders! Don't think for even a second that no one noticed how you didn't want her following you around until you found a use for her. Not to mention all the ass-backward remarks you two've made about how heavy she is. And that stupid cat calling her dumb all the time..."

"A use for her? What the hell are ya talkin' about? I don't use Luce!" Natsu couldn't deny that he may have commented on Lucy's weight a few times… And it wasn't his fault that her 'feminine wiles' didn't work like she wanted them too... He wasn't sure about the 'wanna-be mage' part, but no one in Fairy Tail would ever think that way about any one they considered nakama. But using her? What the hell? They were teammates and that meant they shared everything.

"T'ch. If you don't use Lucy then I'm not your clone."

The silence that followed was heavy.

"My clone?"

"So you admit you mistreat Lucy…"

"I never said that! I want her to be my partner!" Natsu shouted back. "What the hell ya mean, my clone?"

"How are you so out of the loop on everything?"

Natsu just glared.

"God, I hate you," Xavion stated.

"The feeling's mutual," Natsu answered.

A soft groan could be heard from the celestial mage. "Natsu?" her voice sounded scratchy, probably due to the smoke in the room. "Xavion? Where are we?"


	47. Chapter 47

Mavis glared at the lacrima communicator, but her glare was nothing compared to that of the sweet Mirajane's. Her expression was possibly the scariest thing Makarov had ever seen. He knew he could be intimidating when angry, but the demon takeover mage took it to a whole new level of terrifying.

"When you say you 'lost' Lucy and Natsu, what exactly do you mean?" The honey tones of her voice made the demonic look in Mira's eyes all the more terrifying. The slight curve of her lips that created the innocent smile that she constantly wore made visible shivers run down the master's back.

Mavis was proud of the fear her wonderful guild children could create in even the most fearsome opponents. The Fairy Tactician couldn't help but grin in her own frightening way as she watch sweat drip down Zeref's temple.

Zeref was still strong enough to squash the world under his feet, his magic capacity having not dissipated after his return to the living, but there was just something in Mirajane's face that promised that there was no amount of strength that would be enough to defeat her wrath if the dark wizard didn't answer her question very carefully.

The communication lacrima was grabbed from Zeref's hand and Sting came into view. "Ya pansy," could be heard muttered between the two as the white dragon shoved Zeref's face to the side.

"What Gloomy-psycho means to say, is that Lucy's client was a two timing bad dude who took off with her after she completed the job. Natsu just happened to grab hold while it happened. Gloomy says we have to regroup at your place to come up with a plan."

The communication lacrima in Master Makarov's office cracked under the pressure of magic power Mira was putting off. Her anger sizzled with dark energy and crackled along the walls. Lucy may not be in the guild anymore, but she was still nakama. The idea that she was now gone… taken… again… made Mira's hackles rise. She wanted to rage at Sabertooth for not protecting the girl, but then again… Fairy Tail had been there too. She was only able to relax as she recalled the fact that Natsu had gone with Lucy to wherever she had been taken. She would be safe. As much as Natsu might be confused about who Lucy is, he would never allow harm to come to someone in need.

"The guy was creepy, so I made sure to memorize his scent profile. If you can point me in the right direction for this guy, I'll get 'er back," Sting continued, ignoring the crackling coming from the comm device. He knew Fairy Tail reacted badly to everything. The best plan was to just information dump on them before they got out of hand. So he spoke quickly. "While we're on our way, research a guy name Xavion. Mayor of the foresting village just north of the western mountains. He's the one that put in the job request, high reward with promise of a celestial key. See-ya."

The device went dark about the same time it exploded from Mira's magical pressure.

"So, Xavion made his move," Mavis commented off hand. "I predicted that he would before the job was completed. He usually likes to take advantage of chaotic situations. His long term goals are unclear, but Zeref and I think that he has targeted Lucy for her ability to utilize One Magic."

Everyone turned to look at Mavis as she blandly stated the facts. Currently, the Master's office was filled with Mira, Laxus, Mavis, and himself. Laxus was staying uncharacteristiclly silent, but the old master supposed that was due to some form of guilt over his previous actions when influenced by the shadows in the guild hall. Now that most of the guild members had stayed clear of the place, the majority of people were returning to their normal selves. Those who had direct experiences with Shadow-Lucy, however, were still recovering.

Gray and Erza were staying quiet, counseling each other on their experience and what it all might mean. Their group was often joined by Lisanna, Bickslow, Levy, and Gajeel, who had seemed to be the few who'd been unaffected by the shadows. Cobra occasioned the table as well, but usually he didn't stay long. Master had overheard Jellal speaking to Erza about the poison dragon's frequent trips out of town, and learned something he'd never been aware of before. Cobra had only been able to stand being in the guild as long as Lucy was there too. Something about the song of her soul soothing the chaotic nature of everyone else's in the guild, which was the only thing that made it bearable for the sound mage to be present. Yet another puzzle piece to the whole that was the 'Light of Fairy Tail'.

Rogue was sitting at the bar waiting for their call to be done. He would have been in the room with them, but the small office would have been too cramped with the addition of another body, so they had agreed to meet and discuss after everything was said. Rogue hadn't minded, he didn't really like tight spaces, and he especially didn't like tight spaces with people he didn't specifically enjoy the company of at the moment. His outburst after he'd seen the shadows in the guild hit the hearts of the Master and Laxus hard. Had they really been so blind to what was going on in the life of one of their own? Did they really have any right in seeking to get the celestial mage back?

"So you know who took them?" Mira asked, all business, all satan soul shining through the innocent blue eyes of the barmaid.

"Yes," Mavis answered concisely. "Xavion, or Designation 10, was a precursor to the creation of the Etherious Demons. He was one of Zeref's earliest attempts at bringing Natsu back from the dead."

"And this Designation 10 is who has Lucy. What can he gain from her using One Magic? When did she learn that?" Laxus spoke up. Makarov took a moment to be proud that Laxus was asking questions and not just storming around in a fit of anger. It had taken all night to get the Lightning Dragon to calm after Rogue so beautifully told the man off. For him to be sitting nicely was an achievement and a show of his maturity. He may be a guild master yet.

"Lucy was able to achieve the use of One Magic due to her relentless ability to love the world despite the evil she's encountered. She used it to re-write Natsu's book, combine his different souls, and given him new life."

Mira looked confused as she asked, "Wait. Zeref brought Natsu back to life? He has a book?"

"Yeah, you weren't here for that conversation, were you?" Laxus rubbed his hand over his face. "Lucy has been up to no good when it comes to working over people's memories. She modified any memory the guild had of Natsu being END and a part of the books of Zeref."

Mira was silent as she let that soak in. A mixed bag of emotions raised to the surface. What Laxus said was not computing properly in her personal ideal of who Lucy was.

Mavis continued, "One Magic's source is love. It is unlikely that Lucy will still be able to perform whatever feat Xavion needs her to now that..."

"You are underestimating Lucy, First," Makarov pipped in. "Despite any amount of broken-ness the girls has, it will never overrun her heart's capacity to love and forgive."

Mavis observed the old man for a moment. "You think that even after her own soul has been severed the way it has, she still holds the same amount of love?"

"Did she not utilize One Magic to gain insight into the blood magic she used to seal away Natsu's book? That took place after the breaks to her soul began…"

"I see your point," Mavis conceded. She wasn't sure why, but she had continuously doubted the intellect and capabilities of the Celestial Mage. Now that she thought about it, a lot of people who came after Lucy did the same thing. Even members of the guild underestimated her. Perhaps, at the core of Lucy's continuous self-doubt (Mavis had seen it first hand during the Grand Magic Games) had an origin here in the walls of Fairy Tail. And Mavis, herself, had been part of the problem. Hadn't she acted unsurprised at Lucy's losses during the GMG and planned for them? Hadn't she had private conversations with Makarov questioning his decision for the celestial mage being on the team? Hadn't she doubted Lucy's necessity and importance to the guild and voted to have her simply replaced? Why? Why had she never been able to see Lucy for who she really was? Mavis was quiet as she review her interactions in the guild and specifically with Lucy.

"So Lucy can use One Magic and Xavion, who is another Zeref-creation, wants her to, what? Fix him like she did Natsu?" Laxus wondered.

The group pondered this thought quietly. Zeref may have been defeated, but that did not mean other creations of his were not still out there. If Lucy was being targeted for what she did to save Natsu, the girl would never be safe again. Just how many Zeref leftovers were there in the world? What would become of them if Lucy were to help them achieve their goals? The worst part is that none of this helped the Fairy Tail mages in their quest to get their guild hall back to normal.

* * *

Sting and Zeref had made the call to Fairy Tail after they'd dropped the four unconscious mages off at the local authorities in the village. Sting had been able to calm down from his overflow of rage after a mile or so of walking in silence as they finished their journey through the woods. Happy was sitting on the edge of Sting's bed and seemed to be thinking deeply about all the information he'd heard from Zeref. Sting was trying his best to think deeply on it too, but was having trouble not raging at the dark wizard. The white dragon was generally a chill guy, but it was hard to not be angry about how badly Zeref treated his 'experiments'. It also riled the man up that he'd be stuck WORKING with the contradictory psychopath for the foreseeable future while they tried to rescue his guild mate. He was having a hard time placing any semblance of trust into man who created the man who kidnapped Lucy. As far as Sting was concerned, it could all be a very elaborate plan form the psycho to get Lucy back in Fairy Tail. Sting was paranoid, so shoot him.

Currently the two mages were in their separate hotel rooms packing up their bags and getting ready to head towards the trains and then on to Magnolia. Thankfully the Chimera had not made it far enough through town to effect the station or the tracks, so they were going to be able to leave town without too much trouble, besides the possible overcrowding of the train carriages. It seemed that a lot of the villagers were clamoring to leave town too. While no one had been seriously injured or killed, thanks to Lucy's escape tunnels, most villagers were too scared to risk the beast's return. Thankfully, the reward money for Lucy's job had been kept with the authorities, so Sting would be able to make sure the girl was paid for her trouble. The celestial key that was promised for the job, however, seemed to be on the Mayor's person. He hoped she'd kick his ass and take it. Lucy was extremely protective of all gate keys, even if they were not under her contract.

"I know what Zeref did was terrible, but he was cursed then, right?" Happy muttered aloud. Sting guess that the small cat had finally reached a point of inner contemplation that needed to be voiced in order for the small animal to feel sane.

"Yeah, and the curse drove him mad. It was the curse of contradiction. Everything that he thought was constantly contradicted through the darkness of the curse," Sting replied, trying to sound like a relayer of fact.

"And he got cursed because he wanted Natsu back," Happy continued, stating more facts.

"But his desire to get Natsu back was corrupted into a desire to destroy him, destroy the world, and kill himself."

Happy nodded. There was silence again between them as Sting realized that all of Lucy's stuff was still needing to be put away somewhere and packed. He started gathering her items and putting them into her suitcase that was neatly tucked away in the closet of the room.

"The things he did were unforgivable," Happy concluded.

Sting nodded this time as he attempted to hide the blush adorning his face as he emptied the dresser draw Lucy used for her barely-there panties. He had to school himself from imagining the girl wearing them. This was not the time to drift off into 'lala-Lucy' land.

"But he did everything so that he could have his family back," Happy added. "He wanted his family back so badly that he cursed himself to insanity. Natsu is the closest person I have to a father," Happy murmured. Sting thought that was kind of sad in and of itself. Natsu was a great person with a capacity to love and accept like not other, but he was not entirely the most responsible. They guy had little to no real structure in his life, just a guild of crazy people to show him how to be 'normal'. He had trouble imagining the near feral Natsu raising Happy to be the oddly intuitive cat how sat slumped on his hotel bed.

"If Natsu died, I'd want to bring him back too," Happy said, a determined look in his eyes. "I don't forgive Zeref for the hurt that he caused, but I know that he started in a place of good."

Sting allowed Happy's words to settle into his thoughts. The dark mage who created monsters, living nightmares, and then used said monsters to kill, mame, and brutalize humanity, started as a simple young boy who just wanted to get his family back. Was it really so hard to imagine himself heading down a similar path if Rogue or Lector were taken from him? He couldn't see himself going as far as Zeref had, though. Zeref had been cruel and merciless to his creations and the world. Then again, Sting was a rather emotionally healthy individual. It was possible that he would just… greive.

A knock on Sting's door signaled that Zeref was ready to leave the hotel and head back towards Magnolia. Happy was the one who let the man in after flying over to the door and twisting the lock.

"Are you ready?" Zeref asked simply.

Sting took a deep breath, working through his anger over the dark wizard's past before answering, "Just a few more things left to pack of Lucy's in the bathroom, then I'll be ready."

Zeref stayed silent and followed Sting's movements with his sad looking black eyes. It was unnerving to Sting. Zeref no longer held the feel of a predator like he had during the war with Alvarez, but that didn't change the fact that the man had done some awful things in life and was powerful enough to do them all over again if he pleased. He might claim that he was no longer cursed and that he meant people no harm, but that didn't mean Sting would trust the guy to have his back in a life or death situation.

Sting dried the remaining water off the bottle of shampoo Lucy had used before dinner and shook the water out of her weird scrubby thing she used to exfoliate her skin. Girls were weird and used entirely too many bath products. The girl had separate soaps for her face versus the rest of her body. She had face cream, hand cream, foot cream, and body cream… Why you couldn't just use one all over was beyond the white dragon. Then there was an assortment of oils and sprays that had something to do with her hair, but he had no idea what. No wonder it took the girl so long to get ready. Inside Lucy's suitcase had been several empty plastic bags that he assumed she used to safely pack all her bathroom necessities in. So he carefully tucked each item into a back and then packed them away into the suitcase. Once finished he zipped the pink monstrosity up and stood ready to leave for the trains.


	48. Chapter 48

"Where are we?" Lucy's throat felt like she hadn't had a glass of water in three days. Her mouth was so dry that her tongue was sticking to the roof of her mouth when she tried to talk. She coughed, but the feeling cold air passing over the dry contours of her throat made her gag, especially since the taste of the Chimera and her vomit still seemed to linger on her taste buds. She really wanted to brush her teeth. And find water.

Lucy's eyesight was slightly blurred and it was hard to make out specific features of the two wrestling on the floor, but their hair colors helped give her clues to their identities. Natsu and her client, Xavion. Why exactly Xavion was holding Natsu down was probably less of a mystery than it should have been. Natsu, being who he is, probably overreacted to something. The heat and smell of smoke seemed to help confirm her suspicions. Of course, why Natsu was here and where here was still remained unanswered.

Slowly, the blurry blotches, that Lucy assumed were faces, turned in her direction.

"Luce!" Natsu called out. "Are you okay?"

Lucy wanted to reply that no, in fact she was not OK, but found that the dryness of her throat and the throbbing headache that seemed to appear out of no-fucking-where prevented her from stringing the words together properly. What the hell happened? Why did she feel like her muscles were jelly and her bones were weighted irons? Why did her head feel like bits of brain were leaking out through her eye holes? _Oh god make it stop!_

Xavion lifted himself off of Natsu and crawled over to the blonde. He whispered, like he knew that loud noises would probably break her, "It's okay Lucy. You're in my home. You got hurt during the job, but you are safe here."

Even though he whispered so delicately, Lucy's ears rang from the noise and her blury vision swam out of focus. She had to close her eyes and concentrate on breathing, which hurt more than it should.

Through the fog in her head and the ringing in her ears, Lucy vaguely recognized the sound of something hard thudding into a floor or wall or maybe even the ceiling. Suddenly it was Natsu's voice growling in the distance that caused her ears to whine in pain, "I told you not to touch Luce!"

She felt a warm hand on her forehead before fingers dragged softly through her hair, "Luce? I'm taking you back home. Wendy'll get ya fixed up, okay?" Natsu's soft voice ghosted against her. His nickname for her spoken with such care made her chest ache and her eyes tear up. She never thought she would ever hear him speak to her that way again.

"You can't take her anywhere like that! Loke said she almost died!" Xavion whisper yelled. Lucy's ears rang at his voice and she was most positive that her forehead was splitting open since her eyeballs were not getting out of the way to allow her brain to empty onto the floor. She opened her eyes only for them to burn and sting. Dry. Too much light. Oh god, her head.

Natsu turned and glared at the other man, "She needs to be with her family to recover." Natsu's whisper was louder as his anger peeked. The sound made her blink. Why did sound make her eyes ache?

"She can't leave, her job isn't done yet."

"She destroyed YOUR chimera, what else is there. C'mon Luce, we're leaving." Natsu bent beside her again, at least she assumed it was him. The most she could make out was a blurry patch of pink. His arms were reaching for her and then he was shoved to the side by Xavion.

Lucy wanted to intervene on their argument, but she just couldn't force sound out of her dried up vocal cords. She instead concentrated on Virgo gate, hoping that her spirit would be able to assess her situation and bring water. And a toothbrush. Lucy reached for her gate keys at her hip, the movement feeling more taxing than it should. Each muscle in her arm felt like goo and her shoulder and elbow joint were like rusted gate hinges that hadn't been used in years. She had to concentrate hard, which made her eyes ache as her brain pounded against them. She would be screaming if her throat wasn't so dry. She used her fingers to inch her arm towards her hip. Slowly. So slowly the other two didn't even notice she was moving. Ages later, her fingers lightly brushed against the pouch at her hip… _Virgo!_

Nothing.

"You don't even know where we are! Exactly where do you think you'll take her?" Xavion's voice. A thud. The sound of fists meeting flesh.

"It's your fault she's like this!" Natsu. Smack. Glass shattering, thunk. Maybe a portrait from the wall had fallen.

No rush of magic.

No connection to the gate.

"Stay down! I can get her help here. Look at her, Natsu, she can barely move!" A low growl. A gasp and another thud as Xavion's body hit the floor.

No soft tingle of energy in her keys in response to her call.

Was she so out of magic she couldn't even connect to her spirits? _No!_

"If she stays, I stay."

 _Virgo!_

"No!," Seething, sputtering rage, "You are not welcome here." A fist meeting a face. Blood spray on the wall.

Still there was nothing. Why did she hurt so much? It was like Ultear was opening her second origin again. It had felt like this. Like her body was melted away before slowly being rebuilt. But this was different. Her body continued to melt. Where was the feeling of being built back up?

Lucy could remember the panicked ripping of her magic container as she fell through darkness after the Chimera slammed her through all those trees. Is that what happened? Had she destroyed her magic container, ripped it to shreds? Would she ever be able to call on her spirits again? Is this what killed her mother when she open the Eclipse Gate? Had Layla stretched herself too much until she could not longer even absorb ethernano back into her body? She wanted to cry. After everything, now she was going to die and she'd be all alone with a man she didn't know and another who didn't want anything to do with her. If her body would have allowed it, she would've curl into a ball and sobbed.

"What the hell did I ever do to you, dammit! Luce is my partner, I'm not leavin'!"

 _VIRGO!_ She shouted her spirits' names in her mind, begging them to come to her. _LEO! ARES! Capricorn! Scorpio! Stragitarius! Please, Lyra! Grandpa Crux! PLUE!_

"Everything! Everything that I am is YOUR fault!" A blur flew over Lucy and slammed into the wall. The blonde barely noticed.

Her body started shaking. Dry sobs heaving there way from her chest out of her throat in an ugly croak. The noise was enough to finally draw the two fighting out of their brawl and once again focus on her.

"Get her water!" Natsu called out as he once again kneeled by his partner's side. "Luce! What's wrong?"

She couldn't move, she couldn't speak. Her ears felt like they were bleeding. Her eyes were useless globs in her head. And her head… her head was imploding. Her body continued to shake. Shaking hurt, the sudden tensing and releasing of muscle in her body making it feel like electric shocks were jolting through her. Perhaps death was painful after all. She deserved every second of it. Useless.

"Thanks," Natsu whispered as Xavion placed a large water bottle with a straw on the floor next to the two mages. Natsu slowly slid his hand and then arm under Lucy's shoulders. He lifted her enough so that her upper half was raised off the floor, and then he shifted quickly so that he could lean her back against his chest in a slightly more upright position. He reached for the water bottle and brought it to the girl's lips.

"C'mon. Your throat must be killin' ya Luce," Natsu whispered softly. "Just take sips, okay?"

Lucy obeyed. Her muddled thoughts stuck on her absent spirits rather than Natsu's actions. She sucked small amounts of the liquid of life into her mouth and swished it around. The water was absorbed into the cracking, dry crevasses of her tongue before she even got to swallow it down. She continued this slow process of sip and swish until a quarter of the bottle was empty. Her eyelids were feeling heavy and she wondered if this was it; would she fall asleep now and loose herself to blackness?

 _Lucy was drunk. The world was spinning. But everyone was here and everyone was so happy. They were cheering for her! She had done something with her life, was rewarded, and no one could call her useless bait anymore! She was wearing a red dress that made her feel sexy, she was twirling around on a dance floor, and holding the "Best Up and Coming Author" award against her chest with the biggest, dopiest grin on her face. This is what she had been waiting for her whole life. She was someone more than just Lucky Lucy Heartfilia. She was more than Lucy of Fairy Tail, the coddled wanna-be-mage._

 _She was an author. She had written a Best Seller. And she did it all on her own._

 _Of course the guild was all there, celebrating with her. Her win was their win. Nakama through and through. Even Sabertooth, Blue Pegasus, and Lamia Scale had come to celebrate with her. It was amazing to have so many friends who cared about her achievements._

 _Lucy tripped mid twirl and was steadied by warm hands on her shoulders before she careened to the floor. "Whoa there Luce," Natsu chuckled, a soft grin forming on his lips. "Maybe it is time for you to turn in for the night."_

 _"This is my party, Natsu! I won't be the first to leave it," she whined to her partner. "Go bother Happy if you wanna go so early." Lucy tried to pull away from her beloved dragon's grip, but he held on despite her struggle and started to laugh._

 _"Happy is busy with Charla. Dance with me?" Natsu asked._

 _"Whaa? Dance? With you?"_

 _Natsu rolled his eyes, "Weirdo. Yes with me!" Natsu pulled her closer, and the drunk girl couldn't help that her feet were on backwards and ended up falling into her partner's warm embrace. Award still clutched to her chest. She was never letting it go. It was hers. She earned it._

 _'Dancing' with Natsu was more like a long hug that involved swaying. Lucy didn't mind, however, given that any more movement than what they were doing would probably leave them both in a mess on the floor._

 _Natsu hated dancing. She remembered trying to teach him how after the seven year gap on Tenrou. She couldn't help the giggle that bubbled from her lips as she remembered Erza stepping in to help 'train' the boys with her demon spin dancing. Natsu looked down at her with questioning eyes, but grinned at her laughter._

 _"I'm happy for ya, Luce."_

 _"Thank you Natsu," Lucy murmured into his shoulder, embarrassed._

 _"They liiiiiiiike each other!" Happy cooed from over Natsu shoulder._

 _"Hey lil' buddy!" Natsu pulled away from Lucy to grin at his blue, flying cat._

 _"Stupid cat!" Lucy shouted as she launched towards the feline, dropping her reward in the process and tripping on the ends of her dress, which had her flying face first towards the hardwood of the dance floor, arms flailing comically._

 _Both Natsu and Happy were laughing too hard to be bothered to stop her fall, and when her face met the floor, they were bent over crying._

 _"You flaming idiot!" Gray slapped the back of Natsu's head. Juvia wasn't far behind her beloved, dressed in blue, but her hair was up in a bun rather than down._

 _"Hey Icicle balls, what the hell?"_

 _"You let her fall!"_

 _"Did not!"_

 _"LOVE RIVAL!"_

 _Did too!"_

 _Their foreheads met as their glaring contest intensified. Juvia glared down at the fallen Lucy, arms crossed. It didn't seem to matter that Gray had told her she belong with him, Lucy was still single and therefore a rival. Especially because Gray cared about her enough to fight Natsu about it._

 _"Are you two fighting at Lucy's party?" the shadow of Titania fell over the two arguing mages._

 _"Best friends!"_

 _"Aye!"_

 _Arms slung over each other shoulders, hands held together in a friendly shake._

 _"Good, I like see you two getting along. Lucy, why are you on the floor?"_

 _"Wahhh!" Lucy cried. "They let me fall! And my award is broken! Waaaahhhh!"_

 _No one bothered to help the poor, drunk blonde up before a new brawl started. Lucy was trapped under Natsu, who had been knocked out by Erza. Then she was completely squashed as Gray's unconscious form was dropped on top of the fire dragon. Erza clapped her hands together, smiling at a job well done before she moved on to seek out more strawberry cake._

 _"Waaaahhhh!" the blonde wailed. "Why does this always happen to meeee?"_

Lucy woke from her dream. It was like she had stepped into an alternate reality of what should have happened after Alvarez. After rewriting Natsu's book, after barring him from remembering her, Lucy's creative juices had been squeezed from her like an orange being juiced. She hadn't progressed on her novel at all. Not a page, paragraph, sentence, or word had been added since before Alvarez. A dream lost.

Lucy blinked away her thoughts as her eyes slowly focused on what was actually surrounding her. She was alone. Her head was cupped gently in a feathered pillow and the sharp pain of her headache had lessened. Her sore body was tucked tightly under heavy, red blankets. The bed, she assumed, was soft and her body seemed to have melted into the mattress. Lucy slowly moved her head to the side that wasn't facing a bland grey wall and took in the rest of the room.

A empty chair was placed at the head of the bed she was resting in. It was a well padded, comfy reading chair done up in grays like the walls. Beyond the chair was a door, she assumed it went out into a hallway. She scanned what she could of the rest of the room, considering she still didn't feel like she could move well on her own. There was a plan looking wood dresser adorned with an empty glass vase, sliding doors that lead to a closet to the right of the dresser, and if she craned her neck just so, she caught a glimpse of a curtained window.

She wondered where she was. She wondered how hard it would be to get more water. A toothbrush. Clean clothes. A shower. She felt sticky and knew it was because she was still covered in blood from the Chimera. She could still smell the beast's acrid scent clinging to her like perfume. The putrid stench of rotten flesh seemed to surround her like a cloud. God, why couldn't someone have at least given her a sponge bath before tucking her into bed. If Virgo had been there….

Lucy panicked. Her keys? Were they still on her? She wiggled around and then groaned at the pain of sore under used muscle attempted to respond her her needs. But her hand was close enough to her hip to brush against her belt...which was empty.

Despite the pain and sore-achy feeling, Lucy bolted upright. The red blankets that had surround her were ripped away in her panic. They were gone. The celestial mage's eyes pricked with tears as she glanced around the roomed, her breathing coming in bursts as she began to hyperventilate. Her keys! Her spirits! Her forever family… Where? Her mind was in a complete state of panic, so much so that she completely missed the door to her room opening and a pink head of hair bounding into the room.

"Luce, you got to breath. You're okay. Deep breath. You're okay. Slow. That's it. Look at me…" Natsu's voice was calm and quiet as he coached the panicking blonde. "In… good. Now out. Slow breaths. Good."

As soon as Lucy's breath was back she whispered, "Keys?"

Understanding flashed over Natsu's face as he pulled the ring of keys out of his pants pocket. "Sorry, I didn't want ya to be uncomfortable and I don't trust that Xavion guy, so I took 'em to be safe."

Lucy reached a weak and shaking hand out for her beloved family and pulled the set of keys close against her chest. "Thank you," she whispered. Her brain was slowing down from her panic, but her worry only increased. The keys felt cold. They had never felt cold to her before. They always gave off a warm pulse of energy when she touched them, like a greeting. She felt nothing from them.

"I remember, Luce," Natsu spoke through the silence.

Lucy's mind took a minute to process what he'd said. He remembered? Natsu's voice was quiet and sounded sad. He remembered what? Her keys? No that didn't seem right. Lucy's eyes went wide as everything clicked back together. Her heart that had finally started to settle after her panic attack, felt squeezed and like it was ready to jump up her throat. He remembered! Her! He remembered her!

Tears pooled in her eyes as she slowly turned to look at the man she still loved so much. He must hate her even more now. God, she was such a screw up. Her magic was messed up, Fairy Tail hated her because she was useless, she messed up the job so now Sabertooth wouldn't want her, and now Natsu. Why couldn't she just disappear.

"W-why are you still here?" Lucy muttered.

"What kind of question is that, Luce? We're partners!"

Lucy responded as if his words were ghosts in the wind, "You should go." Lucy didn't want to cry in front of him. It would only confirm how weak she was, and god she didn't want to be weak anymore. Lucy turned her face away, her pool of tears ready to overflow. "You must ha-hate me more now," she barely whispered. She didn't want to hear his response, she didn't think she could live through hearing it again. Burden. Obligation. Weak. Why was he even here?

"Why would I hate you?" Natsu asked seriously. He hated the way she turned from him. Hated the way she seemed to whimper at the sound of his voice. Her reactions made his blood boil in rage. Xavion did this. Xavion broke his Luce. He wanted to march out of the room and find the stuck up hateful bastard and punch his lights out. Lucy should never look like this, she should never be this broken. "Lucy," he used her full name, "look at me, please."

She shook her head violently. It made her vision swim and her head pound. The aching in her very soul seared through her in a wave of emotional turmoil so intense she couldn't breath.

"It wasn't me who said those things. I - I would never… Please, look at me?"

Lucy shook her head again. Not him? How could it not have been him? She was there. They had spent the who day together. Of course it was him. How could he lie to her about it now? Did he think she would forget one of the worst moments of her life? She felt dizzy. Was this even really happening right now? She was hyperventilating again. Quick pants dried her throat as her mind reeled. This wasn't happening. This was a dream. Natsu didn't want her. He'd said so. This must be her imagination playing out a sick fantasy of Natsu telling her their miles of drifting apart could be bridged after all. _No, no, no, no!_

Vaguely she could hear Natsu's pleading for her to slow her breathing, to calm down, that she was safe… but the sound of his words was so far away and soon she couldn't hear it at all over the rushing in her head. Her vision went white...


	49. Note - SORRY!

Hello Everyone!

Sorry this isn't an update. I have been having the worst brain block for my next chapter! I am not abandoning the story, I am just trying to get re-inspired to get a move on and finish it up!

Feel free to send me comments or feedback that my help kick my butt into gear!

-FeebleHearts


	50. Chapter 49

**AN: Something short to move things along! Thanks for having patience with me!**

"Luce. Lucy!" Natsu caught her shoulders as she lost consciousness and fell to the side. Her dead weight felt uncomfortable in his arms as he adjusted her to lay on her back. She was lighter than she used to be and it made him take a closer look at his best friend. Her face had thinned. Her cheeks weren't hollow, but the underlying bone structure was more pronounced. It would have make her look more attractive if it wasn't for the large bruising under each eye and they way her brow stood out, giving her eyes a sunken look. Natsu pulled the blankets all they way off her body, realizing that if her face had changed so drastically, then there were probably other things that had as well.

Her bust was smaller, but the hard lines of her collar bone jutting out still gave her breasts a larger-than-life look. Natsu blushed at his observation and continued scanning the rest of his Luce. There was muscle tone in her arms, stomach, and legs that wasn't there before, although he could barely see it under the grim that coated her skin. But her hip bones were too prominent to be healthy, removing the gentle transition of waist to thigh. There were scars that he didn't recognize barely visible under the blood and gore that still covered her. He frowned at his discoveries.

These last six months had not been kind to his nakama.

Natsu was having trouble processing exactly how he felt about everything. There was a part of him that was incredibly angry. Lucy should have had enough faith in him to know that he'd never turn against her. Even if he had turned away from his friend, she should have handled it better than just… just erasing herself! He wanted to yell at her and stomp his feet, maybe even burn her precious novel in his rage. Even if he was mad at Luce, he'd never want to forget her.

There was another side of him that was deeply rational about the whole thing. It was like some older, wiser person was whispering in his ear and reminding him of the key facts about Lucy. One: Lucy had abandonment issues / hated to be alone. Two: Lucy grew up with no friends or close relationships, except for Aquarius (who treated her terribly). Three: Lucy's first reaction to causing someone problems or having a problem is to leave. These things combined meant that Lucy had no practice in dealing with hardships in relationships: family, friends, or otherwise. Her father rejected her existence unless she could be made helpful so she'd run away. Her mother was gone and her substitute seemed to hate her. She was alone her whole childhood without friends her own age. After the whole Phantom Lord incident it had taken hours of reassurance from Team Natsu, Master, Levy, and Mira, that she did not need to leave the guild and would not be expelled. When she had left that note about going home Natsu had panicked thinking she fled. This wise, logical part of himself came to the conclusion that It was reasonable to assume that her inexperience in dealing with emotional trauma in relationships could possibly lead to unhealthy and over-exaggerated reactions.

But still… She had just ripped herself out of his life! Like it was no big thing. Avoided him for six, SIX months. Tried, and he guessed succeeded, in leaving the guild for good without him even knowing it was happening. He thought back to the day Laxus had confronted her; the day she had apparently left Fairy Tail for good. Seeing the scene play out in his memory now that he actually knew the significance of the blonde haired woman made his mind rage. He should have stopped her. Hell, the idea to leave Fairy Tail should have never even crossed her mind. He felt like he had failed her, yet in reality it was she who failed. Failed to have faith in him… wasn't it?

Natsu pulled at the covers that he'd stripped off the celestial mage and gently placed them back around her shoulders. "Damnit," the pink haired dragon muttered. He was confused and hurt. Angry and scared. He wanted to turn back the clock so he could figure out what the hell had happened to make things this way.

The dragon slayer sighed and he watched the unconscious girl's tense face. Her eyebrows were knitted together and her body was sweating now. Was she having a nightmare? Was it because of him… or rather 'fake', clone him?

He had imagined a few reactions from Lucy as he told her the news that he had not, in fact, had any part in whatever hateful things were said to her by the white haired impostor. Crying. Lots of 'I'm so sorry'. A hug. A promise to never do that shit again. Maybe a Lucy-kick after he made some sort of cheeky remark. He had not expected her to pass out after turning blue from lack of oxygen. Her reaction to his words just didn't seem real. Since when could a few insults break his Luce like this anyway? She was strong. Hell, Happy had said worse things to her than what that Xavion guy admitted to saying. Right? Was there more?

Frustrated Natsu stood and started to pace the room. He couldn't figure out where to focus his anger. He wanted to punch something into ashes and just resolve this whole thing, but he was beginning to see that it wasn't going to be that easy. And he wasn't entirely sure who to punch and for what reason. Xavion for tricking Lucy? Lucy for jumping into the deep end by messing with his head? Everyone else at Fairy Tail for allowing Lucy to leave so easily? Sabertooth for stealing his nakama? Was she even safe with those bastards? Hadn't this mission nearly killed her, so obviously she wasn't safe.

Whatever, whoever was to blame was insignificant to the major problem: there was something wrong with Luce. Something broken and off. He had missed so much. It was worse than when he'd left to train for a year. But why? She had been fine when he'd come back. She had picked up her life after Fairy Tail disbanded, got a job, and had done well for herself. Sure their relationship had changed a bit when he was back. There were moments when things felt tense between them, but she wasn't like this… this broken thing.

There was a light knock on the door. Natsu could hear the click of the knob twisting and releasing its hold on the wall. He turned and saw Xavion peeking his head into the room. Xavion's eyes narrowed as they came across Natsu's pacing form.

"Bastard!" Natsu growled at the man. His frustration coming to a peak that he planned on taking out on the only person he could. Even if he should be mad at Luce, he just couldn't forced himself to act on it.

"I'm the bastard?" Xavion entered the room. His voice sounded bored, but his eyes betrayed his interest in what was happening as they darted between the pink haired menace and the celestial mage. He shrugged in reaction to Natsu's comment, "I suppose."

"Why is she like this? What else happened?" Natsu demanded.

"Whatever are you talking about… brother?" Xavion's lips twitched into the smallest of smirks. His loathing for Natsu was palpable and seeing the macho dragon's scales 'ruffled' was satisfying in a way he couldn't quite describe.

X wanted to kill the younger Dragneel.

No… That wasn't really it. Not kill. Torture.

All his efforts since Lucy had joined Fairy Tail with the pink haired dolt were coming to fruition right before his eyes. The sad, hateful look in Natsu's eyes as he steamed in anger. The pitiful way he glanced behind him to the small frame of the girl. Natsu would leave here with nothing. His most precious nakama lost to him. Xavion couldn't stop the grin forming as Natsu sputtered in response.

In a blink Xavion found himself pressed against the wall of the hallway outside of Lucy's guest room. Natsu's forearm was on fire and pressed heavily against his chest. The crushing force of Natsu's strike had the wall shaking with the force and a loud crack as rock and mortar broke a part and crumbled to the floor.

"We are not brothers," Natsu snarled.

Natsu's flames were catching on Xavion's shirt, but they didn't burn the man. He, after all, was immune to all kinds of fire. The many curses implanted into his body by Zeref made sure that there was little that could actually harm him.

"Your right, Natsu. We are the same person. I am you, or rather…. You are me."

Natsu didn't know how to reply to that besides snarling in anger.

"Our only difference is what is in our souls," Xavion continued nonchalantly; not affected by Natsu's flames or anger.

"Like hell we are the same! Whatever you've done to her," he pointed back towards his Luce, "I would never have hurt her like that! Never."

Xavion calmly reached a hand up to grip the wrist of Natsu's arm and pulled it away from his person as he laughed. "Oh young Dragneel. It was what you did all on your own that set the foundation of mistrust. All I did… brother… was fan the flames."

Natsu visible bristled, "What are you talking about?"

Xavion rolled his eyes, "Even you aren't that stupid. What is it you did that hurt Lucy more than anything else possibly could?" A pregnant pause. Natsu's face was so delightfully expressive. Xavion could see the wheels turning behind those angry eyes. He could tell the exact moment Natsu realized what Xavion meant and his grin turned down right vicious. "Right. You left her. She's never forgiven you. A few choice phrases said to her over time in different ways and everything she thought she knew about you, believe about you… Poof," Xavion mimicked a magicians hand gesture, make a show of something intangible vanishing.

Natsu couldn't hold back anymore; his mind decided that the soul person to blame was standing right in front of him. The fire dragon moved faster than the average mage could track as he raised his fist up to slam it into Xavion's smug face. How long had this bastard been manipulating Lucy? How many times had he appeared before her looking like Natsu? What had Xavion done to her, said to her, while wearing Natsu's face?

Xavion caught his fist like it was nothing more than a gnat, "Uh, uh, uh, can't have that, can we." The white haired demon activated his teleportation curse, "It's time for you to leave."

Natsu blinked. He was gone.

Xavion smiled. Yes. Everything was moving along nicely.


	51. Chapter 50

Sting, Zeref, and Happy arrived at the Fairy Tail guild hall late into the next evening. Sting had contacted Sabertooth from the train and filled Yukino, Orga, Rufus, and M'Lady in on the situation. They had, of course, all been enraged that their newest guild member had been taken. None of them felt relief when learning that Natsu had managed to tag along with her captor, and Sting was chewed out three different times for allowing anything to happen under his watch. Zeref had stay silent and impassive the entirety of the train ride except to sneer at the communication lacrima every time his baby brother was bad-mouthed and Sting said nothing to counter their opinions. After all, if Natsu were to be believed, he had nothing to do with whatever had happened to Lucy.

Shortly after the three stepped into the guild hall, Natsu blinked into existence. His body fell from about three feet off the ground as the black energy orb that transported him vanished. The dragon radiated heat so intense that everyone present in the guild hall broke out in a sweat and strained to breath. The air around him pulsed as his magical energy strained to escape his control. His curse activating and feeding the fire, cycling the demon/dragon/mage through and escalating rapture of power. His body was sliding out of focus as steam rose and blocked the view of the partially transformed man.

"NATSU!" Happy called out, relieved to see his best friend alive, in one piece, and safe. The blue cat's wings appeared and within moments the furball had zoomed into the clutches of the beast that was Natsu. The surrounding guild members couldn't help but be impressed at the cat's fearlessness in that moment. Natsu looked to be more demon than man, and those who were witness were suddenly triggered with memories of END. But Happy had seen this transformation many times over the last six months. He knew that Natsu wouldn't' hurt him or any of his nakama, even when in such an out-of-control state.

With the comfort of Happy and the knowledge that he was now in the best position to get the information he needed to fix whatever went wrong, the fire dragon relaxed. The sizzle in the air and extreme heat he'd brought with him was now the low flicker of a candle's flame. Scales receded back into skin. Horns seemed to slide back into his skull. Claws dulled back into fingers.

Sting's attention left the reunion of exceed and dragon; instead, his eyes roamed through the guild until they landed on Rogue. Rogue nodded to show he understood the non-verbal communication before he shifted into his shadows only to appear at Sting's side.

"He came back alone," Sting observed.

Rogue nodded.

"You see that transformation?"

Zeref quietly interrupted, "Lucy combined his souls. He is still END, an etherious. But he is also dragon and human."

"Shit," Sting commented. "She never mentioned that bit of information."

Zeref only raised an eyebrow at the Sabertooth guild master.

"Rogue, before we start with everything here…." Sting paused as the Master of Fairy Tail jumped down from the bar top to great Natsu. Zeref stepped passed him to go to his brother and speak with the master. Sting stayed quiet as his listened to Makarov request Natsu's presence in his office.

The shadow dragon looked to his best friend in question, waiting for him to continue.

"I want to see the shadows."

Rogue looked over the blonde dragon slayer for a moment before nodding in agreement. "I think it would be best for you to know what we are dealing with. The extent of the damage…"

Sting nodded in agreement and the two headed out into the evening air. They hadn't gotten far before Gajeel stepped from the shadows holding a bewildered Levy.

"Shrimp and I want to be there too. Neither of us have been allowed inside," Gajeel's gruff voice left no room for argument. Neither Saber was surprised that Gajeel had heard their plans.

"What? Inside where?" Levy asked dumbly, the only one unaware of the destination.

"We're goin' to the guild, Shrimp. I wanna see the mess Master and them have been tryin' to hide from the rest o' us. Rogue told me some, but I wanna see it."

Levy's eyes widened and then she nodded. "I haven't been able to get in touch with either Erza or Gray since they went in, and Laxus has stayed tight lipped about it as well. He hasn't even told Bicks what happened."

"I ain't askin' Salamander about it either... Damn demon." Gajeel muttered the last bit.

Sting and Rogue simply kept walking, the Fairies falling in step with them as they marched on to the abandoned guild hall.

"So what happened to Lucy?" Levy piped up. "All we heard in the guild was the yelling from the Master's office."

Sting's fists clenched, "The job we went on was some sort of set up by an old Zeref creation. He took Lucy." It was an over-simplified version of events, but Sting was still rather sore about the whole thing (not to mention worried to the point of sickness about his guildmate).

"An old creation?" Levy questioned.

"Yeah, there is some fucked up stuff in that man's passed. More than just trying to destroy the world and all," Sting sighed. He didn't want to repeat everything he learned, but he knew that the Fairies, at least these two, would want to help get Lucy to safety. They were still her friends, afterall. He knew that.

Sting wistfully looked up at the darkening sky. He vaguely wondered how Fairy Tail mages had managed to stay so optimistic after everything their guild had gone through. He was having trouble remembering that just a few months ago, Sabertooth and their shenanigans were at an all time high. Lucy, being a new addition to the family, was quickly inducted into the prank wars that often ran amuck. But now… It was like the preamble to war all over again. Zeref's leftovers coming out of the woodworks and wanting a piece of the pie.

"Can you explain?" Levy prompted, bringing the white dragon out of his momentary retrieve. His blue eyes contemplated the petite script mage.

"You might as well," Rogue pushed.

Gajeel interjected, "What about Bicks and Baby Straus?"

"I'll call them. They can meet us outside the guild and we can all go in together," Levy was all business. She pulled a small communications lacrima from a small yellow bag that hung off her shoulder. "Lis…" Levy stepped away to complete her call. The three dragon slayers listened to her short conversation with the white haired Animal Soul takeover mage on the other end. They were on their way again shortly.

"They'll meet us there. Bicks wanted to take a look at everything after I told him what Gaj told me about the soul thing," Levy rambled.

Sting just nodded and the group continue to walk to the abandoned hall.

"We should be careful sending in so many," Rogue broke the silence a few minutes later. "Lucy's magic is connected to the shadows. We can't predict how that part of her soul will react."

Gajeel nodded in agreement, he knew that the Shadow Dragon would know best and had Lucy's best interest at heart.

"Her magic is connected to the shadows?" Levy asked. "You didn't mention that Gaj!" Levy smacked the larger man in the chest.

Said iron dragon only rolled his eyes in response and muttered, "I didn't know…" Rogue vaguely remembered that he hadn't mentioned that to them when he called to explain before. But, to be fair, he was only making an educated guess.

Rogue nodded and explained his thoughts, "The shadows are a manifestation of her emotional turmoil, a part of her soul almost. Lucy's essence either trapped or left behind. When the shadows are approached by someone who is a part of the emotional trauma… They are given life and react… I believe they are using Lucy's magic to do so."

"I've heard of something like that before!" Levy declared. "But it was in a fictional story about a mage who was tortured. The bad guy used the main character's emotional state against her as a means of torture. He was able to extract specific memories and forced the girl to relive the trauma over and over again. I think the memories were given some sort of physical manifestation, and magically linked somehow… It drained her magic and prevented her escape... Of course the girl's true love came and saved her…."

"Any real life instances of this torture method?" Sting questioned sarcastically. The excitable script mage was bouncing on her toes as she went into more detail about the book she had read.

Levy's bouncing paused as she thought about it. Her pointer finger rested on her lips as she mentally processed Sting's query. "No. But I'll look into it. I'm sure the author got the idea from something real. A spell or something…"

Another minute of silence. The larger-than-life Fairy Tail guild hall was now in view. The building looked dark and foreboding even in the evening light. Usually, the hall was lit up by outside lacrima that would highlight the guild insignia, and the windows would be glowing with the lights shining from within. Missing were also the sound of laughter and fighting. Missing were the comings and goings of working wizards. Missing was the warmth that usually surrounded the place like a blanket and extended outwards to all of Magnolia.

Instead, darkness and the chilling ice of Gray's slayer magic clung to the building like a second skin. A skin that seemed to move in ebbs and flows as shadows now danced across the exterior walls. The feel of celestial magic thrummed in the air. Instead of bring the light of the stars down to earth, an oppressive weight pressed down on the approaching mages making it harder to move forward… harder to breath.

"Already so much has changed," Rogue muttered. His red eyes roved over the building, taking in the swirling darkness. "They are outside…."

"Is that a bad sign?" Sting asked.

"I don't know."

"I don't want to get any closer," Levy whispered. "It feels so… wrong."

"I've never seen anything like this before," said a calm baritone. Bickslow and Lisanna walked up to meet the Sabers and Fairies. The usually excitable seith mage was oddly serious, his eyes glowing bright green as the tall Boscan studied the building. The usually masked man looked almost naked with his handsome, tattooed face exposed. Sting wasn't sure if he'd ever seen the mage in anything other than his ridiculous knight get-up and helmet. The casual look really did something for the man, though. Made him approachable. Something, in Sting's opinion, the Thunder God Tribe (or legion or whatever they called themselves) needed.

"What do you see?" Lisanna asked. "Hey Levy!" Compared to Bickslow, the white haired younger Straus sister was dwarfed in height by nearly an entire foot. Her petite form and slime build added to the weirdness of the two attempting to hold hands (Like a child to their father, rather than two lovers). If Gajeel hadn't already stolen the moniker 'Shrimp' for Levy… it would have surely been applied to Lisanna.

Levy waved happily at her friend and then looked cautiously up at the seith. She had, over time, gotten used to seeing Bicks without his helmet on, but it was rare for him to do so and have his Figure Eyes active at the same time. She wasn't exactly scared of his power per say because she knew he wouldn't harm her. Her fear was rooted more in what he would see if he turned his soul-seeing eyes on her. What if underneath it all, she had an ugly soul? It was a weird fear, she'd be the first to admit that, but she couldn't help the self-conscience feeling that overwhelmed her every time she saw his eyes glow.

"Lucy," Bickslow's voice whispered into the night, "I see so many fragments of Lucy. They're all tainted and dark."

"Well, soul doctor," Lisanna squeezed his hand gently, "can you help or what?"

Bickslow's eyes returned to their natural dark red as he glanced down at his petite girlfriend. He then looked back the the Fairy Tail building contemplating what he had seen. It was different and way worse than what he'd observed inside Lucy before she vanished from the guild a couple weeks back. Lucy's soul had been broken. The bright light it had given off dimmed. But what he was seeing in front of him suggested that part of her soul was in fact missing from her body. That the missing part had splintered into fragments of varying size, and instead of casting a warm glow they were black. That wasn't all, oh no. Each black and fractured bit had some sort of magic embedded in them that did not originate from the celestial mage. He had no idea what type of magic it was or why it was present. Without knowing more, he wouldn't want to do anything to 'fix' the current problem.

Bickslow relayed his thoughts to the group as concisely as possible.

"Can ya at least test cleansing a fragment? See how it reacts?" Gajeel prodded.

Bickslow shrugged, "I would prefer Levy look into some things first with Freed's help."

Sting was thrown into contemplative thought. He shared a look with Rogue and knew that they were on the same page. Lucy had not done this to herself, the secondary magical signature attested to that.

"This happened over a course of time," Rogue whispered to Sting, voicing the thought on both their minds. At least since Aquarius and the Fairy Tail's disbandment. Maybe longer.

"She was targeted?" Sting questioned softly. "Someone just chipped away at her…"

"Oi! Whatcha two sayin' over there?" Gajeel pipped in. The iron slayre had heard their hushed voices just fine, but he knew the others hadn't.

"Who?" Sting wondered, ignoring Gajeel.

"And why?" finished Rogue, his wine red eyes flashing. "No offense to Lucy, but I can't understand her role in any of this."

Sting nodded. Lucy was beautiful, she had a big heart, and was a well equipped mage, but otherwise she was hardly remarkable. No 400 year old Dragon Slayer - Demon set to curse the world at a black-hearted mage's behest. Sure her magic was rare, but what did breaking her so thoroughly really do for anyone. What was there to gain?

"I'm going to get closer," Sting announced. "I want to see if the shadows react to me like they did you," he glanced to Rogue. The shadow mage nodded agreement.

"Wait!" Lisanna called as Sting labored through the oppressive atmosphere to get closer to the now pitch black guild hall. "Do you think that wise?"

Sting didn't turn to answer, instead he moved forward towards the locked front doors of the hall. Rogue answered in his stead, "When I approached the shadows, there was not an outpouring of negativity like there was when Laxus, Gray, Erza, and Natsu approached. Bickslow, perhaps you should observe what happens using your Figure Eyes."

The seith mage's eyes began to glow green as he observed the white dragon approach the building.

"Send out a bit of your magic, Sting," Rogue called softly to his partner. "Make sure your intent is clear when you do."

"Why did you tell him that?" Lisanna asked. Levy nodded in agreement as she too wished to know the answer.

"It calmed the shadows when I interacted with them."

Sting approached the building cautiously. The weight that pressed at him was heavier and harder to bare the closer he came to the guild entrance. Breathing felt like he was pulling in a thick cloud of dust into his lungs. Was this due to that secondary magic Bickslow mentioned? Was it tainting Lucy's soul so thoroughly that her Celestial Magic brought this… darkness?

As he neared the building, Sting encased his hand in light and held it up so that he could better see the way. He knew there were stairs around somewhere and would prefer not to trip and look like an idiot. The visibility his magic gave him had him halting at the base of the stairs, however, his brain barely comprehending what he was seeing. On the walls, doors, in the windows… there were swirling masses of liquid ink. Formless, yet connected. Slipping around and through each other while undulating to a silent beat. They were more than shadows, that is for certain. While looking directly at the roving ink spots, Sting swore what he was seeing was a two dimensional image, like something on a lacrima screen. But, out of the corning of his eye… the forms were peeling themselves from the wall, looking rounded and solid.

The visual was confusing on his eyes, making his feel a bit dizzy. But he needed to see what Rogue had seen, so he pushed forward despite the disconcerting feeling. Sting was face to face with the locked doors. Inky blotches slithered and converged in front of him. Tendrils of darkness wrapped around each other in a cobra's dance, the image solidified as an angry 'Hisss' echoed from everywhere and nowhere.

"God…" Sting whispered. "Oh Lucy…" the white dragon held out his glowing hand and with sorrowful confidence placed it against the door. "I miss you," the man's voice cracked.

At his words a wail of anguish roared from the gathered darkness and Sting could feel his heart shudder with guilt at the sound. He should have helped her more when she'd come to Sabertooth. Maybe some of this could have been avoided. "I'm sorry, Lucy," he whispered as the form of his missing guildmate seemed to grow out from the wall's surface.

He could feel her magic brush against his as a shadowed hand was place over the one he'd held against the door. The touch was brief, the shadow feeling like a liquid being held in solid form. Cool. Soft.

"Help me."

It was Lucy's voice. Whispered against his ear like a cold breeze.

He turned swiftly, the feel of her magic so close against him that he was sure if he turned fast enough he'd catch a glimpse. But there was nothing. The shadows moved away from him and his hand, the door now starkly normal compared to the rest of the building.

"I promise, Lucy."


	52. Chapter 51

Gajeel uncovered his ears. The wail that had echoed off the walls of the surrounding structures had made his ears fill with static and he'd covered them immediately. He had little want for a busted ear drum. The underlying voice was unmistakably Bunny-Girl's, but the tones of grief and remorse were something he had hoped to never hear in that voice. Even when she was being beaten to an inch of her life by himself, she had not sounded so pathetic as these wailing shadows.

He glanced at Rogue and noticed that the man was standing stoically even as a trickle of blood leaked from one ear. The man looked like he couldn't care less about what was happening, but Gajeel knew differently. It was in the slight downturn of lips that the Shadow Dragon showed his emotion, and if his scent was anything to go by, his fellow red eyed dragon slayer was unhappily pissed off about Lucy's situation.

"Rogue! Rogue!" a feminine voice chimed from under Rogue's cloak.

The inexpressive dragon pulled out a communications lacrima, a slick of shadow brushing the device to answer the summons. A young girl's face, not too dissimilar to Lisanna's popped up on the screen.

"Yukino," Rogue greeted his guildmate.

The girl spoke without preamble, "Something is wrong in the Celestial World. My keys aren't working."

"Like when the spirits were possessed…"

"No. It's different. Then, the keys still held power, I could still feel my connection to my spirits, but this… this feels like the entire Celestial World just … vanished. Lucy…"

"Shit," Rogue interrupted. His eyes flashing in anger and frustration. And Natsu was now back at Fairy Tail. Lucy was alone, without access to her keys. She has been trained at Sabertooth for beginner hand-to-hand combat, but she wasn't nearly skilled enough to take on an enemy. Her magic had grown, her ability to strategize with her spirits had improved, but she was still weakened greatly when her keys were missing or inaccessible. This was a big problem.

Yukino's image nodded in agreement, a worried expression plastered across her face. The lacrima in her hands was the only thing preventing her instinct to bite at her nails from taking over.

"Are you safe, Yukino?" Rogue asked. The idea that Yukino was out on a job without her own spirits rattled him. Was she calling for help? Did she get hurt?

"Mini-chan came on the job with me," the soft spoken celestial said.

"M'Lady is there?"

"Rogue," Minerva's voice sounded from the background. "Yuki-chan is fine. We're headed back to the guild in the morning. Any news?"

"Only that Natsu has returned and Lucy has not." Rogue answered dryly. "Keep her safe…?" Rogue muttered to his unseen guildmate. Yukino blushed.

"How much longer are you tied up with the Fairies?" Minerva questioned. Her hand came over the top of Yukino's face as the communication device was pulled into the grasp of the Territory mage.

Rogue eyed Sting who was still staring as the shadows as they roamed across the guild's outer walls. "Unknown," he answered mechanically. "Lucy is still missing. The Fairies seem to have some knowledge of the man who has her. Sting…"

"Do you want us to meet you there?"

"Not yet," Rogue watched as Sting finally turned form the building to walk back to the group. "After we get more information out of Sting I'll let you know."

The lacrima was unceremoniously dropped back into Yukino's bewildered hands. "Um, I guess we'll be in touch."

"No more jobs, Yukino," Rogue said sadly. He knew the white haired celestial mage was not a fan of being cooped up too long, but the idea of her on a job without her magic….

Yukino's face scrunched in thought before she begrudgingly agreed with a nod of her head.

Rogue ended the call and looked to his blonde counterpart. "We need to get caught up on what you know. Things may have taken a turn for the worse."

"What?" Sting asked. "How is it worse than her being alone with the weird shark-toothed mayor from hell?"

"What the hell?" Gajeel muttered. Bickslow chuckled at Sting's words despite the seriousness of the situation. Levy and Lisanna exchanged nervous glances, both worried how the light dragon would react to the new of Lucy being without her magic.

"It might be best to get off the street to continue this conversation," Bickslow offered. "The Thunder God Tribe's got a big enough pad for everyone to fit comfortably. But first…" Bicks paused in thought and then continued slowly not sure how his request could be taken, "I need to see another sample of someone interacting with the shards of Lucy's soul. Preferably a guild member."

"No," Rogue answered.

"I figured you'd be against it…"

"Everytime someone from Fairy Tail interacts with the shadows something massive happens and causes Lucy's magic to go insane. It could put her in further danger," Rogue stated, not willing to budge on the topic.

"What if it is me or Lisanna?" Levy asked. "We were never on bad terms with Lucy, maybe the shadows will act more like they did for Sting?"

Rogue's eyes narrowed at the small bluenette.

"Let them try." Sting was interested to see how the shadows would react to Levy or Lisanna. He was also hopeful that if Lucy's magic went berserk it might hurt Xavion in the process and then Lucy could get away.

"I'll do it," Lisanna spoke up, smiling gently.

"I don't agree with this," Rogue huffed.

"It will help me understand more about what is happening with her soul and what kind of magic is controlling it," Bickslow claimed. "Lis, are you sure you wanna do this?"

"Of course." With that, she turned and walked towards the guild doors like Sting had done before her.

"I'll go too!" Levy called, trying to quickly follow after her white haired friend. Gajeel grabbed the back Levy's orange dress and held her up off the ground like a scolded puppy.

"Shrimp, ya ain't goin' up there right now," the iron slayer said gruffly. Levy kicked uselessly. "Baby Straus will be fine."

Levy pouted, but eventually nodded in agreement. It wasn't that she didn't believe in Lisanna's capability to handle the situation, but she didn't want her friend to have to go through it alone if things went towards the negative. Lisanna was strong, but she was slightly damaged. The whole Edolas thing had left a weird kind of whole in the young woman's heart, and Levy knew that the only ones to understand were herself, Bickslow, and Lucy. What if Lucy's shadow things said something that crushed the poor girl. Levy bit on her lip. Lucy had never had anything against Lisanna, they were still friends. It was Lucy who was helping Animal Take Over mage heal from her unusual loss. There was no reason for there to be anything negative said.

Levy was slowly placed back on the ground after Gajeel was certain she wouldn't make a run for her friend. The group seemed to hold their collective breaths as the white haired girl reached the door of guild hall. Bickslow's eyes shined brightly now that the sun was completely set, lighting up the surrounding area as he watched the shadows, and soul bits, move.

Like with Sting before, the shadows joined together as they dipped and slithered their way from other spots along the exterior walls. It was disturbing in the same way watching a boa constrictor give birth to live young was - an unnatural grouping of slithering and unidentifiable objects. It made Lisanna shudder. She loved animals of all kinds, but she had never been overly successful with reptiles. Just like the cold blooded cobra raising up to display it's hood and hiss in a show of warning, the shadows reared up together and let out a growling hiss.

Lisanna could feel the anger and hurt beating within the shadows like the rhythm of a heart, and it made the same muscle within her chest squeeze in response. The mage was highly empathetic, and the thrum of pain coming from the shattered pieces of Lucy's soul were crying out so loudly it made the poor girl feel dizzy. Unable to help herself, Lisanna reached out to the door frame to steady herself from the onslaught.

"Is this where all your pain has been hiding, Lucy?" Lisanna whispered. "I was wondering why you felt so empty sometimes." Lisanna took a ragged breath, calming the sensations that were circulating through her system like tiny electric shocks. "Levy and I missed you this Friday." She paused, waiting for there to be some sort of reaction. When nothing happened, she continued, "I'm sorry we couldn't stop the whole thing at the guild from happening. ...Natsu's nose," she shook her head with a sad smile on her face.

A whimper sounded from the shadows that were now circling around Lisanna's hand that was still resting against the door frame.

"I wish you would have told us more of what's going on, Lu," Lisanna couldn't stop the edge of anger that appeared in her voice.

The writhing mass of shadows reacted to her statement with gusto. Lisanna was pushed back with a pulse of power. Lisanna was surprised by this for two reasons. The first reason was because the power that pushed her back was somehow… her own? The second reason was related to the first, she had felt no drainage of her own magic in order for the shadow's to produce the attack.

Her surprise was completely side-railed by the view of liquid shadow bubbling against the wall. It looked like a the sinewy muscle of the twining snakes had been brought to a roiling boil. Each bubble pulled and stretched into being like it was trying to push outside the boundaries of skin before they would suddenly snap, bursting a part in a spray of smokey mist. Lisanna instictively ducked away from the bursting pallups, becoming more freaked out the longer it happened. The mist was starting to congeal in front of her cowering form and Lisanna was finding herself regretting the night the girls 'drank away' their greatest fears. Levy's was spiders, Lucy's had been rejection, and Lisanna's had been… venomous snakes. Specifically rattlers.

The mist formed the rattler first. Lisanna covered her ears as the warning noise, akin to that of sand filled maracas shaking incessantly, filled her senses and sent a chilling vibration through the air. Gray and black scaly skin grew out from the rattling tail and formed a coiled body, the head hidden away within the coils.

Lisanna couldn't stop the "Eeeep!" that fell from her lips as she prepared to turn tail and run. Why would Lucy do this? Her greatest fear, and it was huge! It wasn't like a small, hardly deadly baby rattler. No! It was like a goliath of a snake whose body was thicker than the width of her shoulders. A Nagis.

Slowly the body of the snake started to uncoil and the head of the beast was revealed. Lis gasped and took a step back. Lucy's face stared back at her. Her hair was pulled up in a tangle of wiry bits on her head and it was black like the shadows. Her eye sockets were empty and her face blank. A forked tongue quickly flit out between her lips and the rattling noise increased.

Lisanna was filled with terror. She wanted to run. Run and scream. Her body was shaking uncontrollably and sweat was starting to bead along her hairline. Her breath was beginning to come in short gasps. She needed to get away. But before Lisanna could take another step back, Lucy's shadow-snake coiled around her and held her in place.

Lisanna was too lost to her fear to hear Bickslow call for her. She also didn't notice as the shadow-tail of the snake whipped out to block Levy from reaching her.

"Are you ssscareed?" Lucy's forked tongue flit out again, the edge brushing against the soft cheek of Lisanna's face.

"Y-yo-ou n-nn-know I ammm," Lisanna cried out. "St-top!"

Lisanna was dropped to the ground, the body of the giant snake vanished. Lisanna was curled on the ground shaking. A cold hand touched her shoulder and the poor mage couldn't help how far she attempted to jump away from the contact. Her eyes were wide and filled a betrayal and fear only to come face to face with a shadow version of Lucy's one hundred watt smile.

The shadow Lucy was crouch in front of her, a hand reaching out to her friend. "I am scared too, Lis. If I told you what I did…." The smile faltered and fell, a sad look coming over the usually blonde celestial mage. "You would hate me… Just like he does."

"Oh Lu," Lisanna shook her head wildly, "Never! I would never hate you." The Animal Soul mage reached for her friend's shadow, pulled herself up, and then threw her arms around one of the best friends she'd ever had.

And then she was gripping nothing. The shadows gone.

"Lis!" Bickslow pushed past the iron slayer who was helping Levy get up from the ground and ran to his girlfriend. He wrapped his arms around her small frame and whispered comforting words into her hair.

"I'm okay, Bicks, really."

"Like hell! What was Lucy tryin' to pull?"

Lisanna sighed, "She was just making a point. Fear. She's scared."

"She didn't need to do that to you to make a point." Lisanna agreed, but said nothing. After all, the real Lucy, the one who was kidnapped and alone without her magic had every right to be scared.

Sting and Rogue were next to approach, but stayed further away from the building as they watched the shadows continue to swirl. Levy was brushing off her dress as the iron slayer glared daggers at the building like somehow his displeasure at the Lucy Shadow would be felt by the real deal.

"Before they shadows react again, you should move away," Rogue called to the hugging duo.

Bickslow nodded and turned Lisanna away from the building. "We'll talk when we get home," the seith mage mumbled. He waved his hand for the others to follow and started walking south to the gated community where they great Thunder God Tribe lived.


	53. Chapter 52

**A/N: Sorry this took some time. I rewrote this chapter a few times because I was having trouble getting where I wanted to go. But I think it works now... Maybe... Let me know if it sucks!**

"Where is Lucy," Zeref asked the younger Dragneel. His face was deceptively calm, even as his mind raged. After all, Natsu was supposed to save Lucy, bring her back, and then help re-establish her place in Fairy Tail. There was a part of him that knew that his fantasy couldn't work that way, but he was stubborn enough about the end goal that he was a tad blind in the matter. He didn't like not being the one holding all the cards. For so long he had been the one in the shadows manipulating everything, but now… Now he was the one guessing, trying to catch up to a plot that seemed deeper than he'd expected. Zeref was pissed. And for now, Natsu was his target. Natsu wasn't supposed to give up. Natsu was supposed to defy everything and pull heroics out of his ass and save the world-or in this case, Lucy.

Natsu was sitting on the couch in Master Makarov's office staring off into a corner of the room while gripping his feline companion tightly against his chest. The master was sitting cross-legged on the top of his desk, which had only become possible after he pushed a pile of paperwork and nudie magazines onto the floor. Zeref stood in front of the desk, his feet mercilessly crinkling pages of the Mirajane's latest pinup centerfold as he glowered at his younger brother.

Natsu's appearance in the guild and transformation in his rage had Makarov more than a little concerned. The transformation was a mix between his demon form when he fought against Gray during the war and the beginnings of the dragon transformation that was described to him by Lucy after the whole mystical staff debacle in Stella. The power that had momentarily emanated from the young dragon slayer had been a confusing mix-mash of magic and curses. Makarov was beginning to understand what Zeref meant when he'd said Lucy combined Natsu's souls.

On the other hand, Natsu's return without the Celestial Mage in tow in conjunction with his anger had the small master's heart clenching with concern. What had happened?

"Natsu!" Zeref called to his baby brother loudly and waved a hand near his face. "Snap out of it! What happened to Lucy?"

Natsu snapped to attention and glared at the dark mage. There was a downward spiral of anger the fire dragon felt swept away in. There was a long trail of facts that were settling into the slayer's mind, and they all lead to Zeref. It was his fault.

"Where's Lucy?" Natsu's voice was dark and menacing. The glare on his face matching that of his brothers, and for once they shared the same animosity. "I don't know, Zeref. Maybe you can get your buddy Xavion on the com and find out." Natsu was standing now, Happy set gently on the couch and watching with wide eyes. The Dragneels squared off to each other.

"There will be none of that in my office!" Makarov ordered. The usual warm glow of the old man's magic crackled harshly in the air around the Wizard Saint and whipped at the two boys in his office.

Rather than heeding the request of the Guild Master, Natsu took a step towards his brother, their foreheads colliding as they glared agitated at each other.

"You cloned me!" Natsu started. If Zeref hadn't been freaking crazy, none of this would have happened. The eclipse gate would have never been invented, Lucy's mom wouldn't have had to die because Natsu would still be dead. Tartarus, Igneel's death, Fairy Tail's dissolution, the war with Alvarez…

Lucy making him forget her.

If Natsu hadn't forgotten his partner, he would have been… there, he would have been there!

Lucy leaving the guild, leaving him… Lucy would have had her mother, a happy life! And now, NOW there was a crazy Natsu-clone stealing a broken Lucy and he had no idea where they were or if there were others!

Zeref blinked dumbly at his brother. "Of all the things…."

"You cloned me and now it has Lucy. How many others?"

Makarov's mouth had dropped at Natsu's initial claim. "What?" When Zeref didn't deny anything, the master could help the escaped question.

"Xavion, the guy who has Lucy is my clone. A clone Zeref made of me. How many others!?" Natsu rattled off the explanation as he pushed his forehead against that of the dark mage. Smoke was leaking from the corner of Natsu's lips. "Will they all go after her!?"

Zeref's eyes widened for a moment. He hadn't thought of that. The others…. Designation 10, Xavion, was the only original clone that was still living. Technically each Etherious was a partial clone of Natsu as he experimented with the books and the best way to bring Natsu back. But the Etherious Demons were, mostly, dead. They were trapped back inside the pages of their books, and unless summoned to life again, would stay that way.

Zeref continued to glare at his irate brother and grumbled, "If you brought her back with you…"

Natsu attempted to throw the first punch. Not only was he dodged easily by the dark mage, but a rather large hand belonging to the Master smacked him hard against the office wall. There was a green flare of magic as Freed's runes activated at the contact. The green haired mage's magic was the only reason Natsu hadn't been slapped into next week.

"NATSU!" Happy cried as he jumped from the couch to hover just above Natsu's crash location.

Zeref resumed his place in the room unfazed. Deft fingers brushed imaginary dust from his shoulders before he returned his glare at is flattened brother.

"You know," Natsu sputtered as he slumped down against the wall, "there was nothing I could do against him."

Makarov's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his skull. Natsu never admitted such a thing, never. Even when he was preparing to die in order to stop Zeref in the war with Alvarez, the young man had never uttered a single phrase of doubt. "Natsu," he whispered sadly.

"He, he can turn into me! He's been manipulating Luce," Natsu admitted. For the first time since Igneel had crashed to the ground dead, the fire mage felt… lost. The anger was drained from him, and instead, he felt a weird kind of desperation. How had things gone so wrong for so long? "How many others, Zeref?" he eyes pleading.

Zeref knew that he had to be careful with his next words. Natsu was on edge. The usually passionate man was reduced to a confused mess and the room was heating up as the curse and dragon slayer magic burned just under the surface of his skin as his emotions churned. As they say, don't poke a sleeping dragon.

"The others are no longer alive."

Natsu snarled, "You lie, I can smell that you are lying." There was something lackluster in Natsu's attempt at intimidation since he was still sitting against the Master's office wall with a giant goose egg on his head.

Zeref backed up. It really couldn't come to blows between them now. Too much was happening and he needed them to focus. Whatever Xavion was planning with Lucy, it would not be good for anyone. The realization that Lucy was being manipulated and maybe had been for a while now, struck him hard. What if the damage was too deep and couldn't be reversed?

"The Etherious Demons are not technically dead since their books still exist, but…" Natsu's eyes narrowed as flames licked up the dragon's left hand. "BUT!" Zeref held up his hands as if he wanted to indicate surrender, "but, they are trapped in the books!"

"Where are the books?" Makarov asked. He eyed Natsu and wondered how likely he was about to start another fight. As the young mage's flames spread across his chest and down his opposite arm, the guild master knew he'd have to put a stop to it before his whole office went up in flame. Freed's runes only protected so much. "Natsu, put out those flames before I knock you out."

The fire dragon turned to his Gramps in a huff, "But Gramps it is his fault! Everything is!"

"Nastu. We can discuss this in more detail if you calm down."

The young man crossed his arms over his chest, his flames dying out immediately, and grumbled loudly, "Stupid, crazy-ass, demon-making, psycho…"

"NATSU!" Makarov called, exasperated.

"Fine."

Makarov turned to Zeref, the look on his face was intimidating, to say the least. It was a You-Will-Tell-Me-Everything-Or-Else look and the dark wizard felt like he was a scolded child for the first time in well over 400 years.

The black haired man took a deep breath, wishing Mavis was there with him. He needed the support and the reminder that all of this was truly in the past. He wasn't that man anymore. "There were ten complete clones of Natsu. Designation 10, or Xavion, is the only one still alive. He was the first one I created an artificial soul for, or life link, rather."

"Artificial soul? Is that what I have?" Natsu whispered softly.

"Yes and no," Zeref didn't really want to explain the details of Natsu. He was different from all the others, and it would take too long. "It isn't important right now. The important…"

"Isn't important?" Natsu seethed. "I don't think you get to decide what is important! I'm even really human, am I? AM I?" Natsu roared. He stood so swiftly, toe to toe with his brother. He turned his head to the side as he tried to regain control. Tears welled up in his eyes, the emotional toll of everything too much for the seemingly young man. He had died in order to choose to be human, hadn't he? But now? Now, what was he? A sack of skin with an artificial soul, and artificial life? Somewhere between human, demon, and dragon-a sewed together, a miss-matched monster created by some psycho-mage in order for him to relive some sort of familial fantasy. And Lucy, his Luce…. No wonder she had made him forget her. Maybe she hadn't wanted him after all. This thought tore him apart. She was everything.

Zeref decided to not replied to Natsu's rage, and instead took a step back from the steaming mage. Another time, this discussion was for another time. "Xavion is as close to immortal one can get, same with the other Etherious. As long as their life link and books remain, they will to some extent be alive."

"And the books…" Makarov pressed.

"They are safe in my home. Mavis and I both put protective seals over them. The only one we don't have is Natsu's book and … well, the items Xavion holds in his possession."

"You said Lucy protected Natsu's book…" the elder questioned again. "Are we sure it is safe?"

"Lucy took every precaution, his book is safe."

Makarov nodded, his eyes closed as he sent a silent 'thank you' to whatever higher power watched over them.

"What does Xavion have, I wonder?"

Happy interrupted, "He's got a giant monster for one thing! But Lucy kicked its butt, right Natsu!"

"A monster?!"

"T'ch, yeah," Natsu answered. It had taken a few deep breaths to calm himself, but his head was finally back in the game. "The job Lucy was hired for was commissioned for was for a monster that Xavion guy controlled."

"The chimera," Zeref answered the guild master's unasked question. "He found my old experiments. Made his own book. The chimera is dangerous, but there are others that could… pose a problem."

"POSE A PROBLEM?!" Natsu hollered. "What the hell does that mean!"

The elder Dragneel aimed a serious expression at the irate slayer, "The chimera is one of many experiments I completed to test the extent of Living Magic. It was neither the weakest or the strongest of those experiments. It was lucky that Lucy survived."

"If they are things you created with Living magic, how is Xavion able to control them?"

Zeref was tired. The enormity of his continuous mistakes was suddenly weighing heavily upon his shoulders. "I tested a Living Curse on Xavion. He has an imperfect ability to use my magic. With enough instruction, he can bring forth a creature to fight on his behalf."

"And your notes give those instructions?"

Zeref Nodded.

Happy covered his face with his paws, tears were starting to leak from his eyes, "Lucy…" His rounded cat eyes stared up into the face of his silent partner. "What if he plans to make her fight all those monsters?"

Natsu's fist tightened at his side. His jaw clenched tightly and real fear for his Luce seeped into his bones. What possible use did Xavion have to Lucy? Why take her? Why was it always Lucy?

Through gritted teeth Natsu spoke, "So how do we find this guy? How do we get Lucy back?"


	54. Chapter 53

**A/N: ooooh... I made a Tumblr. I will try and do updates on where I am on this and other fic that I plan on doing. Check it out! /blog/thefeeblehearts**

* * *

Yukino was pacing around the hotel room in tight circles. Minerva huffed and rolled her eyes at the younger guildmate. The pacing was stressing the tall, black-haired mage out. Each circle the silver-haired celestial mage made was like a string winding tighter and tighter around the spool of anxiety Minerva felt gathering in her chest. Even if she wasn't outwardly showing her fear for their blonde haired guildmate, the territorial mage was on edge. Everything that was happening and surrounding their guildmate was a confusing cluster of convoluted evil-plot and she didn't like it one bit. Honestly, how could the tiny woman attract so much bad?

"I don't know what to do Mini-chan!" Yukino muttered. "If the Celestial World is gone, what does that mean? Why?" Her keys were clenched tightly to her chest. She stopped walking long enough to push a pulse of her magic into the empty, dull metal. Nothing. She continued to pace. "Who closed it off?"

"I don't think pacing is going to help figure it out, Yuki," Minerva chided, trying to hide the strain she felt.

Yukino stopped and turned to face her friend. "I need to do something. Lucy is all alone. She isn't safe. Nothing is right." Brown doe eyes were wide as they peered into Minerva's dark orbs. Liquid was gathering in the corners and before the white-haired mage could stop them, they spilled over onto her flushed cheeks. "What if we can't get her back?"

Minerva stood and wrapped her arms around the smaller woman. Her own eyes becoming misted at the thought of never finding Lucy, or even if they did find her… what if she wasn't the same?

* * *

Xavion was bored waiting for Lucy to wake up, which had to happen any moment now, he was sure. Her reaction to Natsu was interesting, to say the least. He had hoped that Lucy's memory wipe on the dragon slayer had not been permanent, and felt overjoyed that the gamble had worked in his favor. After all, what was the point of torturing someone if they couldn't understand the torture they were enduring? If Natsu never remembered why Lucy was important to him, then his impending failure at saving her would not hold the weight Xavion was hoping for.

The green-brown eyes of the white-haired clone slid over the pile of books he had recently acquired and couldn't help but grin. The tomes had been easily found and stolen. Mavis hadn't had time to react to what had happened before he was gone and the Etherious Demons were where they belonged, with him. The lack of real security had almost made Xavion second guess if the book were, in fact, the real deal, but there was no denial now that he had gotten his hands on them. The residual curses stained the very makeup of each page. It gave the books a unique aura that was unmistakable and impossible to fake.

When Lucy finally woke, the next phase of his plan could proceed. At first, Xavion's scheme had been self-centered and was born from jealousy, but since he had first set off on this journey, he remembered that he alone was not the only being created and wronged by the dark mage, Zeref. He had brothers in arms that needed to be fixed as well. Not just fixed, but given life. Real life with unselfish purpose. Each of Zeref's creations was designed for the sole purpose of finding the best way to kid the dark wizard. Their books were writing in such a way that not one of the demons created had free will to do anything else but focus on the end goal of killing their master. That needed to be fixed. Xavion needed to be fixed, he needed to be more than a half-sheet of paper with the words "Live: Designation Ten" written on them.

With Lucy here, so much more could be given to the Etherious. A new world and purpose. A new life to live that was not dictated by the words on a page authored by a mad-man. And now she was finally at her peak of power, he'd made sure of that with the chimera, and would be strong enough to complete the work he had started.

The man closed his eyes and imagined what it would be like. The demons would be free, HE would be free. Lucy would be his. The blonde beauty would be by his side, always. Natsu would suffer eternally knowing that it was his own face, and his Nakama's, that broken and destroyed the one he loved so much that it drove her away. Instead, Xavion would have the happily ever after with the celestial goddess at his side. Their own world.

* * *

Lucy blinked a few times as she came out of a deep slumber. The room around her slowly came into view as her eyes cracked open and adjusted to the shadows of night that covered the walls. She was having trouble remembering just what had happened to bring her to where she currently was. Flashes of the chimera filled her mind. She remembered pain after being whipped into the tree. She remembered magic flowing through her in a way she had never experienced before and probably would never again. She remembered finding Zeref, Natsu, Sting, and her employer in a clearing…. And then things were a little fuzzy. For some reason, the hazy state of her memory did not alarm her. She felt rather relaxed.

The young woman took a deep breath as she attempted to push herself upright in the bed she was laying in. She immediately regretted her life decisions. Not so much the part where she was sitting up, but the part where she took a breath. The stench of rotting flesh and old blood clung to her. It mixed greedily with her natural body order to make a pungent cacophony of smell that had her nearly passing out. Her stomach turned over, flopping upside-down and then back again causing her to retch. Dry heaving caused her solar plexus to strain as her whole body shuddered and rejected the very air surrounding her. She needed a bath. So bad.

The question of where she was and why was shoved to the very back of her mind as she struggled out from under the blankets and worked her way to the door. She had to pause as the heaving overcame her again and again, eventually causing the girl to dizzily fall to her knees and crawl the rest of the way to the bedroom door. Palming the door in an effort to regain her footing, the mage was able to reach the doorknob and push the blockage open. FInding that her body was not prepared to travel very far, Lucy found herself back on her knees as she stumbled forward into a cold, dark hallway made of gray stone. Her knees scraped against the ground roughly, as did her hands when she tried to catch herself and then her elbows when they buckled beneath her weight. None of that mattered, however; the only thing that mattered was finding the nearest shower or bath so that she could scrub her skin raw. She heaved again, this time bile rocketed up her throat and splattered on the stone floor just in front of her. It burned. Had she vomited lava? The added smell of her fire-bile made her body tense she gagged. For a moment her body refused to do anything else, and she struggled to gain control and breathe again.

As she gasped in fresh, yet tainted air, the celestial wizard had to make her first major decision. Should she turn left or right? She couldn't see far enough down the hallway on either side to know if there were doors or turns or anything. Should she call out? Maybe someone else was here and they could help her? Hell, at this point she didn't care it it was Zeref holding her hostage again, as long as someone answered, that was better than getting lost and possibly dying prior to being able to properly bathe.

"H hell," cough. Cough. Gag. Cough. "'Ello?" Cough. Heave. "Ahhgh," she groaned. Her voice was a broken whisper. Unless she was in the presence of a dragon slayer, or better yet Cobra, no one was going to hear her. Sometimes she took their heightened senses for granted. Lucy attempted to swallow and wet her throat. The bile flavored spit slid down her burning throat and caused another episode of dry heaving. She felt like a cat attempting to cough up a furball, except there was no furball and the cat had rolled around in its own feces after sticking its head in a dead animal.

She took a deep breath and tried again, "Ell-o? ..Anyone 'ear me?" The croaking noise that fell from her lips was louder, but she knew it would have to be a miracle if anyone heard her unless they had dragon senses… unless someone standing in the hallway waiting for her.

A door opened to the right and light poured into the hallway, blinding the poor girl.

"You're awake!" the voice belonged to a man and was one she had heard before, but her current disorientation prevented her brain from supplying the answer. The voice sounded friendly, happy even. Whoever it was was glad she was awake.

Whether that was a good or bad thing was shrugged off as Lucy blinked rapidly and croaked, "Sh-shower, ple-ease."

The voice echoed in the hallway as the man chuckled. "After everything? A shower?" There was a pause in his speech and then Lucy was lifted from her position on the floor and cradled against a warm body. "Yeah, I guess you still stink. The chimera's rotting body is the one true downside of using it. I'll take ya to the bathroom."

* * *

Bickslow unlocked the front door to the Thunder God Tribe's mansion and pushed it open. He called out to Laxus, Freed, and Evergreen wondering who was home as he led the rag-tag group of Sabers and Fairies inside. Freed's green head of hair popped out from behind the door frame that opened into a study, green eyes widening at the group entering his home. The rune mage stepped fully into the entrance way to greet the visitors, a book tucked behind his back as he bowed his head.

"Welcome to our home," Freed greeted formally. He turned slightly to address Bickslow, "Are they staying for dinner?"

Bickslow let out a long sigh as his hand ruffled through his mohawks. He glanced around at the group and shrugged. He wasn't sure how long they were going to need to work through all the information they had. A chorus of stomachs rumbling answered the question for him, but he decided to clarify for his house-mates sake, "We've been to the guild and there is quite a bit going on. We'll be here probably for the night as we try to sort through everything. Your help would be welcomed. The short answer is yes to dinner and probably breakfast too."

Freed nodded his head to show he was okay with the arrangement. "I will get started on dinner. Come to the kitchen and catch me up on what is happening. Can any of you cook… besides Miss Straus?"

Levy raised her hand only for it to be slapped down by Gajeel. "Hey! I can cook!"

"Pfft," the iron dragon rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure shrimp. Only if dinner is instant ramen and chicken nuggets."

Levy pouted and smacked Gajeel in the chest. "Just because I have better things to do than …"

"Better things to do? What? Like, read until you starve?" Gajeel teased.

"Follow me," Freed waved for the group to follow.

"Rogue can cook," Sting offered. "He is the only reason why we survive our longer missions. Guy can create restaurant grade food out of barriers, plants, and just about any protein."

"Hah! Shadow-man can cook 'eh?" Bickslow laughed. "That's rich."

Said shadow dragon stayed quiet as his elbow found purchase in Sting's ribcage.

"Wow, I never knew that about you!" Levy said, slightly astonished. "Lucy would have mentioned that kind of juicy detail…." The blue haired women pondered on that thought for a while. "I mean she told us all about Sting's snoring. Said you sound like a dying bear."

"WHAT?!"

"Think she would have mentioned the cooking bit about Rogue."

Lisanna laughed. "Maybe she never had the pleasure of tasting Rogue's cooking."

"You are correct. When Lucy was on jobs with us, Sting usually made her cook for the group," Rogue offered. "Sting has a thing for…"

"Shut it, man!"

"Oomff!" Rogue's breath was stolen from him as Sting's elbow took a turn at meeting the bone structure of Rogue's ribcage.

* * *

Erza entered the Fairy Tail guild hall like a true queen. The old wooden door was ripped from a splintering frame as her menacing aura preceded her steps into the hall. Gray followed on her heels, his cool personality absolutely frosty, making the room temperature fall 10 degrees as he entered.

"Where is the master?" Erza called out. Her voice a feminine boom in the suddenly quiet hall.

It was Max, who was sweeping behind the bar, that braved her wrath enough to point towards Makarov's office. The 'Titania', queen of the Fairies, swept through the guild like a tornado as she moved to take down the master's door in her fury. Said door was lifted from its frame with easy, carelessly thrown into the crowded hall and knocking over several tables worth of mages.

"She's a monster!" A nameless cry crowd.

"That's Erza for ya," Mira giggle from behind the bar as she polished a glass.

Gray was a silent force as he followed his teammate into the master's office.

The scarlet-haired warrior bypassed Zeref, who was standing a bit dumbfounded in front of the master's desk, ignored Natsu, who was giving off more heat than necessary and got right to the point. "Mira called. Where is Lucy."

The Master stared one of his strongest children in awe that the guild was still standing. The old shack that they had taken up residence in since the new guild hall was crawling with shadows wasn't the most sturdy building. He couldn't help but send a silent prayer up to whatever deity had taken pity on him; he really could not afford to build another new hall.

Gray was silent as he observed the tension in the room that he and Erza had intruded upon. He looked at the way Natsu's shoulders tensed, the blood vessels in his forearm pulsing above his clenched fists. His eyes glided to the old Dragneel brother and were surprised to see a sort of sorrowful resignation in the man's dark eyes. The Master looked irritated but generally unconcerned. He wondered at that. Perhaps after everything the guild had gone through, especially the number of times it had to "rescue" Lucy, made the man apathetic to the situation. He knew the master cared deeply for all Fairy Tail members, past and present, and that the apparent untroubled air was more of a declaration of confidence in his children.

"She is…"

"Zeref!" a small voice called from the inside of Zeref's pants pocket. "Zeref!" He pulled a small communications lacrima out and brushed the device with his magic to answer the summons. Mavis appears on the tiny screen.

"Xavion was here. He has the books."

A collective, "Shit," was shared between Zeref and the Master.

"How?" Zeref replied as calmly as he could manage.

"He was you. I didn't notice the difference until the seals started disappearing."

"Who is Xavion! What does this have to do with Lucy," Erza demanded heatedly. "What books?"

"Erza is back?" Mavis asked through the lacrima.

"And Gray," Zeref commented absently. "Come to the Guild, we need a plan."

The lacrima was cut off.

"Explain!" Erza demanded.

"Aye Sir!" Happy and Natsu replied. The dark aura surrounding their guildmate enough to scare them out of their tense reprieve.

"Natsu. Mira said you were with Lucy, why are you here without her."

"Do we really have to explain this all right now?" Natsu complained. "Let's just go get her!"

"Don't be a moron, Ash-for-Brains."

"Shut it popsicle!"

"Gray is right, brother, we need a plan. Let's wait for Mavis."

"You will explain to me what has happened while we wait," Erza demanded. A single-minded determination to make things right with Lucy was fueling her to get everything moving forward, but first, she needed to know what was going on.

It was the master who summarized, "Lucy's job was a trap and she is currently with her client in an unknown location. Her client is a non-etherious creation of Zeref's and a clone of Natsu's. We need to find where he is holed up and then we can work on getting Lucy back."

"What is Sabertooth doing about this? She is their guildmate now," Erza asked.

"Sting and Rogue, I assume, will be launching their own effort to find Lucy. They left the guildhall shortly after Natsu came back."

"Shouldn't we join forces? The Sabertooth guild has been a valuable ally in the past."

Makarov sighed deeply and shook his head. "I don't know. Rogue has made it clear that he will not allow Lucy near the Fairy Tail guild again."

"They can't keep her from m.. us!" Natsu sneered angrily.

Gray looked at Natsu puzzled. He had heard what Natsu meant to say and wondered what it meant. Just a week or so before the man had no memory of Lucy. Now he seemed to be acting like an overprotective brother as he had before the war. "Do you remember?" he asked quietly.

Natsu merely nodded.

"How? When?"

Natsu cleared his throat, "Um, day before she was taken, I guess. don't really get how." Natsu's mind when back, trying to think if anything special happened that would have helped him remember. "He magic went a little crazy in the woods and Stache Face showed up."

"Stache Face?" Zeref questioned.

"It was Lucy's nickname for the Spirit King," Erza whispered. "You saw him?"

"Yeah, he stopped time and everything. It was so cool!"

"I was right there with you, I saw no such thing," Zeref pondered aloud.

Natsu shrugged.

"Did he speak with you?" Erza asked.

"Uhh, something about Lucy needing to get her magic under control. Worlds being ripped apart. I dunno, really. I didn't really pay attention to it all."

The next moment, Natsu was laying on the floor with a rather large bruise forming on his forehead. Erza stood with her arm still out from striking the dense man into oblivion.

"Did he say worlds were being ripped apart?" Gray muttered looking down on his idiot best friend.


	55. Cover Art - Check it out!

I commissioned cover art from _**ccrispy**_ ( **ccrispy** . tumblr /OR/ twitter **c_crristiana** /OR/ **c_ccrispy** on Instagram). Their art is amazing, please check them out!


	56. Chapter 54

A/N: I know, I know... You can hate on me if you want. I took forever! I'm sorry! I have no excuses! But the new cover art is AWSOME! Right! You should check out c_ccrispy on Instagram. She does a ton of amazing Fairy Tail art. She did this cover as a commission just for this lovely story!

As a side note. You guys should find me on Tumblr. My writing blog is "The FeebleHearts" (thefeeblehearts). I have been trying to post writing thing up there as well. It had a sneak peek of this chapter posted awhile ago before I had finished it.

* * *

Lucy was feeling immensely better. Her skin was scrubbed raw, her hair had been probably ruined from the number of times she shampooed, but she was clean. The stench of decaying flesh was officially no longer clinging to her, and she now was enjoying the water jets that were built into the tub (a modern feature powered by tiny lacrima placed around an old porcelain claw-footed tub).

Her host, the mayor, had been polite and unobtrusive to her bathing needs, which was a relief. She had gotten used to perverts trying to find excuses to see her naked, so his gentlemanly gesture was appreciated. He had led her to the bathroom and briefly explained how the old fashioned shower and tub worked before quickly leaving her to figure out the rest. His behavior reminded her of Rogue - he cared as a brother would. It was a stark difference from what Natsu would have done, that was for sure. He would have barged right ...

Natsu.

She sat up quickly in the tub and water splashed to the stone flooring of the bathroom. He had been here with her, hadn't he? Where was he now?

This question was quickly overshadowed by the memory of her keys feeling dull and lifeless in her hands. The lack of magic pulsing within the metal of each key, giving her an intimate feeling of connection to the Celestial world. Gone. Her breath shuddered in her chest as she held back the stream of tears.

As if everything else hadn't been enough. Now, this. Why?

She had to have done something wrong, broken a rule that she hadn't been aware of. Why else would the entirety of the realm just shut her out? She wondered if her keys would disappear. Would someone else find them? Would they be happier? The sharp pain of loss echoed through her chest at the image her ponderings brought to her mind. A nameless celestial mage finding Aries, opening the gate… What if they were like Karen or Angle?

Now she had to know, had to see with her own eyes that her keys were gone. She stood in the tub and grabbed a neon green towel from the rack. Her mind paused only briefly to wonder at the color choice before she wrapped the cloth around her body and purposefully left the bathroom.

She stopped immediately as she noticed Xavion leaning casually against the opposite wall, a book in hand that he seemed to be totally lost within. Beside him on the floor was a bag with the Heart Kruz logo on the side. As the bathroom door ricocheted off the wall and bounce back for Lucy to catch, Xavion looked up and noticed her for the first time.

"All clean then?" he questioned as he closed the book and bent to retrieve the bag next to him. "I ran out and got some things for you to wear. Nothing fancy. I went a size up from what I thought would fit just to be safe." He handed Lucy the bag and she accepted it without hesitation.

Clothes. That was probably a good idea. "Thank you," she whispered. Her goal of finding her keys derailed as she adjusted to her host's kindness.

"Get dressed, and then I'll show you around, 'kay?" The man smiled at her while he gestured for her to return to the bathroom. Lucy's eyes were drawn to his shark-like teeth and remembers Sting's complaints about the man. He was right, the teeth were creepy-unnatural.

Where was Sting, anyway?

Lucy backed up into the bathroom and watched as Xavion closed the door to give her privacy. She felt dumbfounded. Xavion hadn't even hinted at where she was. He hadn't mentioned her guildmate either. He instead got her clothes and offered a tour…

She shook off the uneasy feeling. Maybe they would come across Sting while he was showing her around. Maybe even Natsu was still here.

The curvy blonde opened the bag of clothes and was relieved to see that there were, in fact, real clothes in the bag and not just lingerie. There were two t-shirts, neither looked form-fitting. It actually looked like they were men's shirts. She checked the tag and found that they were both larges. She wanted to be insulted but found that she preferred the idea of baggy clothes right now anyway. She found a pair of shorts and a pair of sweatpants. Both were a size up from what she would normally wear, but they had ties on them so she could keep them from falling off her body. He had gotten a pack of cotton underwear and an XL sports bra, nothing that could be misunderstood as sexual. She let out a breath and settled in to get dressed.

The underwear was the right size, but the sports bra would need some adjusting. The bust was the right size, but the shoulder straps were long and dropped a bit. The t-shirt she picked out of the bag was white and had the Heart Kruz logo on the back. The pants were a weird shade of teal that she never would have chosen for herself. The shorts were the same neon green as the towel she had used to dry off. Pants it was. She tied them off as tight as she could but they still hung loosely around her hips. She looked into the mirror above the sink. Her hair was worse than any rat's nest she'd ever seen. The mayor hadn't had any conditioner or detangler in the bathroom, and the mage winced at the thought of brushing her hair.

"There is a hairbrush in the top drawer on the left side of the sink," Xavion called from the other side of the door making the celestial mage nearly jump out of her skin. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end and she wondered if he could read minds.

She opened the drawer he spoke of and found a hairbrush that looked as if it had never been used. Maybe he'd had one here for guests? It was obvious that the man himself had no need of one. Lucy shook her head. She was making something out of nothing.

* * *

Orga was sitting beside Rufus at one of the new tables. The shipment of furniture that had arrived to replace what Lucy had accidentally damaged had nearly torn the guild apart. Dobengal had been in charge of calling in the order and had opted for the cheaper option after hearing everything the sales representative had to say. His error in judgment meant that he was currently knocked out and locked in the guild master's office until the rest of the guild could calm down. The idiocy of his decision was on the next level. Even Sting would have had better sense.

"Some assembly required my ass," Orga gruffed. All the tables were slightly lopsided, and most of the benches were more like slides then seats. It all started to go wrong the moment Lector and Frosch had decided to be helpful. Like children who didn't entirely know the meaning of help, it had been a disaster. The exceeds in question had been grounded to Sting's apartment and barred from future construction projects for the rest of eternity.

Rufus had found the whole ordeal amusing as he watched from above murmuring "Memorized," over and over again as he took in the chaos. "Your ass is one of the items today that did not require any assembly."

"Oi! Shut it!" Orga glared petulantly. His memory-make friend grinned.

Rufus looked around the hall. He would never allow himself to forget the happenings of this day. His glee was interrupted, however, as the guild doors were opened and Minerva and Yukino walked in. Usually, such an event wouldn't dampen his amusement, but the tears dropping from Yukino's eyes had the masked man irritated and frowning with displeasure. When the guild had still been under the rule of Jiemma, Rufus had never bothered to even look in the direction of the young mage. But now he counted her as a close confidant. Seeing her in tears was… disturbing.

He was down the stairs and wrapping his arms around his friend before the silver-haired beauty had even reached the first row of tables in the commons.

"What has happened, Yukino?"

Orga was on his feet and approaching Lady Minerva. "Is she injured?" the gruff man whispered.

Minerva shook her head. She wasn't sure if she should take the lead on breaking the news to the guild or not. It was Yukino's magic. Lucy's magic, too. On the train, Yukino had broken down completely shortly after she had finished talking to Rogue. Not only was the silver-haired beauty scared she would never see her celestial friends again, but she was terrified of getting kicked out of the guild again. Minerva hadn't been sure how to comfort her. It had been Minerva's father who had kicked her out the first time, and the territory mage still felt guilty for her involvement.

"Yukino," Rufus muttered softly. He pulled her back from their embrace. "Tell us what's happened."

Her eyes were blood-shot, red and puffy. She was sniffling, but no new tears were falling. Yukino stared up at her masked guildmate and searched his partially covered face. He had never hugged her before. She was quite sure he had never really hugged anyone before. The tight knots of fear that had been crippling her loosened enough that she could finally breathe.

"My.. M-my ke-keys…" clear blue eyes turned to look at Minerva for help. She didn't want to say it again. To repeat the word meant that there was no taking them back. It was terrifying.

Minerva nodded her head, "It's okay Yuki-chan. We're family now."

"But L-lucy, too!"

Orga and Rufus shared a confused look. Orga shrugged. The sabertooth mages hadn't been truly involved with the problems Yunkino experienced with her keys previously. Neither was sure what had happened in the past to guess what might be bothering their guildmate now.

"Did you find Lucy with help from your spirits, Yukino?" Rufus queried.

Yukino shook her head violently, "NO! No! And I never will!" The petite woman glared defiantly up at Rufus and then at Orga. "My keys stopped working."

Eyes went wide. Orga's arms seemed to shake as the man slowly started to panic. "You were on a job Yuki-chan!" The larger than life lightning god grabbed his guildmate away from Rufus. He started to pat her down, his eyes going wild as he searched for any sign of injury.

"She's fine!" Minerva spat. "I was with her after all!"

Rufus and Orga sent the Lady of Sabertooth a sharp look. Minerva's temper flared.

"Hey I may have done some shitty things before, but…"

"Enough, Lady Minerva," Rufus spoke evenly. "Neither of us were accusing you." He glanced at Orga and nodded. "We simply know our Yukino well enough to assume that she continued to battle even without her magic."

Minerva scoffed, "As if I would let her." She crossed her arms and hugged her midsection.

Yukino was finally able to slip out of Orga's grasp. "I'm fine, really!" She felt light-hearted despite the weight of her magic being shut down. Her guild was not rejecting her. Rufus and Orga cared for her. Why had she ever doubted? She smiled at the men gratefully. "Thank you," she whispered.

"Tell them about Lucy," Minerva stated impatiently, breaking the small retrieve Yukino had found in the knowledge of her guild still backing her up.

"Tiny? Is she in more trouble?"

"If your keys aren't working…" Rufus began. His eyes narrowed in anger. "You're sure?"

Yukino nodded. She took her ring of keys out of her belt-pouch. "Before when the spirits were affected by the Eclipse Gate, I could still feel them. Their keys still had magic in them. But now.." She jingled the mix of silver, gold, and black. "They are more useless than the average house key. No magic. No connection to the Celestial World."

"And you believe Lucy's keys to be the same?"

The Celestial mage nodded.

"You spoke to Rogue about this already, I assume," Rufus stated, Yukino nodded.

"Tiny's go no magic and is still missing," Orga summed it up rather crudely.

The group nodded. Orga huffed. "Well, I ain't staying back here and waiting for Yin and Yang to bring her back." He tried to push his way towards the door only to find himself bubbled in one of Minerva's territory spells. He glared in return.

"Sting and Rogue are working with some of the Fairies to figure things out and get her back. We need to keep things running in their absence." Minerva was no-nonsense. "When they get Lucy, we need to have a home for them all to come back too. Let's take care of things here."

Rufus nodded in agreement, along with Yukino. Orga huffed, crossed his arms in front of his chest and pouted like a child.

"Orga!" Yukino cried. "We have to have faith in our family. Sting will get her home safely and he had Rogue to keep him under control. We can support them from here."

The teal-haired lightning mage grumbled his acceptance. Minerva dropped him from her spell into a disgruntled heap on the floor.

"If I hear one word that Tiny got hurt…"

"We know!" they all groaned.

"She's like a little sister, to…"

"We KNOW!"


End file.
